Down On The Pasadena Street, 1964 Edition: How Many Cars Can You Identify?

Many years ago, I bought a yard-sale box of old 35mm slides in order to score the reusable glass slide-mounts. A few of the original images were interesting, so I hung onto them. With all the scanning of old slides and negatives I’ve been doing for the...

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American Journalism Review Condemns Car Review Standards, Applauds TTAC

Please excuse the self-congratulation, but little breakthroughs like this are a big deal for a site like TTAC. The American Journalism Review has a fantastic piece by Frank Greve on the murky and corrupted world of professional car reviewing, which...

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Ask The Best And Brightest: Could This Become The Littlest Ram?

First of all, let’s not fool ourselves: this is quite the hypothetical question. For one thing, Fiat is unlikely to federalize the Doblo cargo van that this “Work Up” is based upon until a subsequent generation comes out. In the meantime, the only Fiat...

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Recall Alert: 2009 BMW X5

BMW is recalling 2,120 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d (or X5 diesel) vehicles because of fuel filter issues that could lead to an engine fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.On some models — built between Oct. 1, 2008, and June...

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Should the US have an energy independence plan?

Is Congress motivated by the people or by reelection? The European Commission today is actively seeking to develop a plan to move away from oil towards alternative fuels in the EU, most recently launching a public consultation on the matter.Should the...

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Quote Of The Day: Hands Free At High Speeds Edition

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2012 Honda Pilot: First Look

The Honda Pilot gets a mild refresh for 2012, including powertrain, interior and feature upgrades. The model is available at Honda dealerships starting today, and we detail what has changed below. Although the exterior look hasn’t changed much,...

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Gartner Group study questions Germany’s plug-in focus

Car sharing just as important as plug-in vehicles? While the Frankfurt Auto Show will be a forum for many new hybrid and plug-in vehicles, a new consumer survey suggests that most German consumers aren’t nearly as bullish as the German government regarding...

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Saab “Close” To $157m Bridge Loan, Situation “Dire”

Bloomberg [via the Financial Post] reports that “one of the five biggest European banks” is “close” to loaning Saab $157m  so that it may pay workers and suppliers, in order to move towards restarting production. According to DI.se, the...

11:10 AM | 0 comments | Read More

BYD Automotive: Is the dream over?

BYD plug-in success in the US seems far-fetched today When Warren Buffett made a major investment in BYD Automotive several years ago, it seemed the future of plug-in vehicles, particularly Chinese plug-in vehicles, was clearly secure. The oracle of...

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Piston Slap: Relevant Lessons taught by Panther Love

Hey, it coulda happened! Hey Sajeev,I love the column and I’m a daily TTAC reader, though I rarely comment. We have been a Panther household since the mid nineties, and have had great luck with our vehicles thus far. My parents had two ex-Budget rental...

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2012 Nissan Maxima, Titan, Infiniti QX56, Others Get Modest Price Boost

Nissan this week announced pricing for its popular 2012 Nissan Maxima large sedan, along with other Nissan and Infiniti SUVs and trucks. This group of models — Maxima, Armada, Titan, QX56 and EX35 — consists mostly of carryovers, with few significant...

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Land Rover Defends The Faith

Often times concept vehicles portray an already-decided future direction. Other times, concepts are built to suggest one possibility in an ongoing debate about a model’s future. Land Rover has taken the latter approach with its new DC100 concept,  telling...

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Will Rising Euro Push Alfa/Jeep Compact CUV Production To Toledo?

Bloomberg reports that Fiat is considering moving production of planned Alfa/Jeep-branded compact CUVs from its Italian Mirafiori plant to the US, as a rising Euro forces tough production choices. Production of some 280,000 units per year were planned...

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California: Traffic Camera Firm Shakes Down City

As municipalities around the country increasingly have  second thoughts about continuing red light camera programs, the private companies in charge of the photo ticketing are turning up the heat. Redflex Traffic Systems  announced to...

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TrueCar.com Provides Best Car Deals for Labor Day Weekend

September 3rd is Best Day to Purchase a Vehicle; Discounts as High as 21 Percent TrueCar.com, the authority on new car pricing, trends and forecasts, has found the best new car deals on vehicles including cash, finance and lease deals available nationwide,...

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Volkswagen 2.0T Intramural League, Second Place: GTI DSG Four-Door

Everybody agrees that the Volkswagen GTI is a great car. Except for the US-market MkI, which was underpowered. And the Mk2, which was If I understand the conventional wisdom, the only GTI which When exactly Five minutes in this MkVI GTI will We’ll...

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Junkyard Find: 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

I’ve never owned an Alfa, and every time I see one in the junkyard I feel a twinge of guilt for never having rescued some poor abandoned Spider project prior to the inevitable ride to the junkyard that all such Alfas take after a decade or two spent...

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Panoramic Sunroofs Gain Popularity

Large panoramic sunroofs are raking in the sales among luxury as well as non-luxury brands, reports The Detroit News. Buyers are willing to part with $1,000 to $2,000 for the open-air feeling they provide. Automakers like Ford, Buick, Cadillac, Lincoln,...

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The Truth About The FT-86. Straight From The Mouth Of The Chief Engineer

“When we started working on the FT-86 we had no idea where we would end up,” said Tetsuya Tada, whom I met last Sunday to talk about his work. The FT-86 that eventually took shape on this blank sheet will be in showrooms down the street from you, all...

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What Isn’t Wrong With This Picture: The Last Of The Panther Interceptors Edition

Panther lovers will be sad to hear that this, the last of the black-and-white Crown Vic Interceptors, has gone down the line according to the Ford St Thomas Assembly Plant’s Facebook page. The last Panther ( reportedly a Town Car) is scheduled to be...

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Ford EVOS Concept: Definitely Not A Lincoln

But… shouldn’t it be? Oh, Ford. You come up with something sexy and desirable, and you can’t help but slap a blue oval on it, can you? Ford Design Boss J Mays explains the choice, sayingWe wanted the Ford Evos Concept to give a clear message about where...

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Ford Evos plug-in hybrid: The new face of Ford

The new look of Ford The smoking-hot Ford Evos plug-in hybrid is one of those concept vehicles that will probably never see the light of day. The Evos wasn’t really designed for production, but rather to express the future of Ford’s design language.And...

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2011 Porsche Panamera Review

The Nissan Juke. The Scion xB. Those are the two cars that have gotten the most negative comments about their styling while we were driving them. And by the most, I mean a 50/50 split on the xB, 60/40 negative/positive on the Juke.The Porsche Panamera?...

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2011 Lincoln Town Car Review

The end of the year clearance sales are on. 2011s are leaving the lot to make room for the 2012s.Except for the Lincoln Town Car. When the last one is gone, that's it. There will be no more. It's been years since Ford bothered to put one in the press...

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Question of the Day: Can You Find a Diecast Replica of Your First Car?

After I started getting weird diecast toy cars as LeMons Supreme Court baksheesh, my office has become crowded with stuff like a 1:43 scale Leyland P76 and a 1:40 Nissan Prairie. Yesterday, as I pondered the diecast custom vans that got away, I...

3:52 PM | 0 comments | Read More

Ford Evos Concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show

Looks like: Ford's take on the Aston Martin RapideDefining characteristics: High-mounted grille, tiny headlightsRidiculous features: Four gull-wing doors, information screens galore insideChances of being mass-produced: Not in this form, but expect design...

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