Michael Bay's first attempt at bringing the Autobots into the real world, the 2007 live action Transformers film, has been all over HBO lately. When looking for HD programming to justify the expense of a flat screen and DirecTV to the Mrs., this movie really hits the spot. So in addition to once in the theater, I've seen it about 10 more times at home. Suffice it to say, I'm ready for T2: Revenge of the Fallen. While we've seen plenty of shots from filming and learned that the once mysterious addition to the Autobots is in fact the Corvette Centennial concept, we haven't had so much as a teaser trailer yet to wet our whistle. The video after the jump is a mere sip, but it will have to do for now. Thought to be shot in Long Beach, CA where filming has moved, it features a caravan of Autobots obeying the most famous of all Optimus Prime orders: Roll Out! The group includes Optimus, of course, and Bumblebee and Ironhide, as well as the Chevy Beat and Trax concepts and the Corvette Centennial concept. There's no sign of any Decepticons yet, but you just wait. Follow the jump to watch the video in high-res for yourself.
Click above to view gallery of stills from Saturn's Project Runway appearance
Project Runway is one of those reality shows that you both can watch, if you know what we mean. Though most men man not admit it, watching Heidi Klum and a bunch of models walk down a runway makes up for the obnoxious antics of the designers. This week's episode incorporated one of the show's long-time sponsors, Saturn, which heretofore has been relegated to supplying the winner with that year's Saturn du jour as a grand prize. Episode 7, however, brought Saturn onto the runway in a challenge that required the contestants to create fashions using parts from the new VUE. Make it work, indeed. Though we haven't watched the episode yet (oh yes, we DVR it), the best part appears to be when the designers begin dismantling a pair of VUEs for materials. Mental note: be wary of used late-model VUEs for sale in and around New York City. It appears the designers were most attracted to any cloth they could find in the vehicles, with seat belts being a hot item. We're not going to spoil for you who won the challenge, except to say that the design was not our top choice. You can check them all out in the gallery below, as well as some stills from the episode.
In the world of Hollywood where so many people are vacuous prima donnas, Paul Newman is one of the great exceptions. He is considered one of the greatest American actors and one of the classiest human beings. However, after 83 years, the Newman era is drawing to a close. About 18 months ago, Newman was diagnosed with lung cancer and he's not expected to live past the end of September.
Many fans of his acting are not aware of Newman's nearly four-decade long involvement in motorsports. Over the years he has racked up a second place finish at the 24 hours of Le Mans and a GTS class victory at the 1995 Daytona 24 hours... at the age of 74. For the last 25 years he and Carl Haas have owned one of the most successful IndyCar/ChampCar teams of the era, as well. Off the track and sound stage he has also raised over $200 million for charity through the Newman's Own brand of foods.
On August 13, the Lime Rock Park race track near his Connecticut home shut down for a couple hours so that Newman could take a few final laps in his GT1 Corvette. The world will certainly be a poorer place with his passing. If you haven't watched The Hustler, The Sting, or Butch and Sundance recently, now's probably a good time to put them in your NetFlix queue. Thanks for the tip, Luke!
Click above for gallery of stills from Fast and Furious 4
Could it be? Could the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious be... as good (we use that word loosely) as the first movie? Perhaps even good enough to make us forget the installments that followed, both of which tried to shoot poison darts through our eyes and into our brains? Too early to make predictions, but for now we can certainly enjoy the trailer, which is high on action and light on dialogue -- just like we like our action films. And unlike some other action trailers, the stunts will get your blood going but don't require you to believe that Jason Statham should be shooting laser beams out of his eyes. Follow the jump for the video and The Return of the Vin. Thanks for the tip, Brodiemash!
Click above for more images of the Batmobile, circa 1989
Built atop a lowly Chevrolet Impala chassis (or two), we don't imagine that the next owner of the Batmobile in this auction will be pulling too many Batman-esque stunts. Still, to own one of the vehicles used by Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger in the 1989 Tim Burton-directed movie is pretty cool. A few salient facts: This sucker is 20-feet long and 8-feet wide, so you're going to need a Bat Cave-sized garage. It's powered by a (probably anemic) Chevy 350 V8, so it's fuel mileage theoretically approaches that of the fictional turbine engine depicted in the flick. Lastly, the new owner will need you to sign a Warner Brothers purchase agreement, which we hear is pretty limiting in what it allows you to do with the car. Still, how many people can actually say, "I think I'll take the Batmobile to work today?" Therefore, we deem this car epic. Thanks for the tip, BMW122487!
The picture at right was taken a just a day after the rally legend was killed in a tragic helicopter crash near his home in Lanarkshire. Without prompting, rally fans from across the UK drove to Scotland to hold a memorial in the McRaes' hometown, which quickly filled up with Subarus, most of them WR blue.
One year on, they've gotten organized. Next Saturday, August 30, Colin's dad, Jimmy, will drive his son's famous 555 Impreza out of Lanark and head for Prodrive's factory in Banbury, southern England. By the time he reaches Birmingham he will have 700 Subarus in his mirrors forming an all-wheel-drive parade that's expected to stretch over 10 miles. Then, on Sunday the 31st, another 600 scoobies are set to join the tailback as it heads to Prodrive's test track in Warwickshire. Yep, that's 1,300 cars in a 20 -plus-mile snake, powered by 5,200 horizontally opposed cylinders.
Although official entry to the event is now closed, organizers expect even more Subarus to show up on the day. Details of the route can be found at http://www.mcrae-gathering.co.uk/
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to testing electric cars. Maybe the problem is that he's never gotten his hands on the right one. Reports are coming in from across the pond that the popular television series has recently procured a Tesla Roadster for Mr. Clarkson to wedge his rather large and surly self into. We have a feeling that Jeremy will like this car -- its performance, after all, rivals that of many gas-powered cars we consider super. Plus, it has British roots, and anybody who has ever watched the show knows that this fact earns brownie points from the three-man crew.
When will the test take place? That's a good question. Our compatriots over at AutoblogGreen have contacted Daryl Siry, head PR man at the Silicon Valley EV company, who told us that no specific date has been set. He did assure us, however, that a test will definitely take place. When it does, we sure hope that it goes better than the last electric vehicle test. Seriously, it could hardly go worse.
Click above for high-res gallery of Jay's Tank Car in Monterey
We were as surprised as anyone to see Jay Leno's name on the entry list for this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Then we saw that he would be arriving in a 1953 Chrysler. As nice as 1953 Chryslers may be, Jay's is pretty special. It's an imposing custom hot rod that is powered by a 28.4-liter Chrysler built tank engine. Most people call it the Tank Car, and last year this time it was on display across the country at the Woodward Dream Cruise. The heart of the Tank Car is the 1792 cid V-12 Continental-designed, Chrsyler-built tank engine that in turbocharged form puts out something like 1,600 hp and 3,000 ft-lbs. of torque. The engine alone weighs 2,000 lbs and easily qualifies Jay's car in this year's featured 20+ liter class.
While performance isn't this car's main goal, it can scoot along pretty well with all of that power being routed through an Allison 6-speed transmission. Switching from the original 3-speed trans doubled Leno's gas mileage, which now stands at around 5 mpg. As bad as that might seem, it comes across as almost reasonable when you hear it guzzles 80 quarts of oil every time Jay swings through a Jiffy Lube. We have to admit that we were among the many fans who rushed to see the car as Jay entered the Pebble Beach fairway. It's really a spectacular sight, even at an event that is known to stop even seasoned auto afficianados in their tracks every few seconds.
Click image above for huge high-res gallery of the AB team's pics from the track
The 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a long title for a spectacular event. Saturday was actually day two of the Historics, which will conclude on Sunday. While the races are exciting and the action very real, the results are slightly less important here than just witnessing the spectacle. The sounds alone are worth a trip to Laguna Seca in August. Saturday's action featured the Toyota Race of Legends, with several other classes having their day in the sun as well.
We had photographers all around the track capturing glimpses of the action, so make sure to click through the gallery to see what you are missing. After witnessing Mario Andretti throw the checkered flag for the Legends and then completing what seemed like dozens of "demo" laps in his old Lotus F1 car, we thought we knew what makes this event so special. And then we saw Patrick Dempsey getting some demo laps in an old Chrysler, and we had to rethink our theory. Okay, Dempsey is probably a bit more maligned here than he deserves, but he does seem to be featured here a lot lately. Personally we were happy to see the Keno twins of Antiques Roadshow fame just as much.
Look through the gallery and you will see some of these encounters and dozenz of pics of the great cars you practically trip over in the open paddock. It's just sick how many of the greatest cars from throughout automotive history are here and being driven as they should be. Saturday's classes included the finals for Pre-1940 Sports and Touring Cars, 1925-1950 Racing Cars and Indy Roadsters, 1950-1960 Sports Racing Cars, 1966-1972 Historic Trans-Am Cars, 1966-1974 Historic Can-Am Cars and 1964-1975 FIA Sports Racing Cars. We also got to see some of the cars that will be running Sunday as their owners tweaked them for the final day of competition. If you make it out to the track on Sunday you'll likely catch the featured Alfa Romeos as well as 1955-1966 Production Sports Cars, 1967-1978 Historic F-1 Cars, and 1972-1983 Historic IMSA Cars. If you can't find something you like in those groups, you're not trying.
Press release after the jump with results and quotes from Saturday.
Click above for more sweet pictures of Uncle Rico's van
In the market for a sweet ride? Consider Uncle Rico's van, which is currently on eBay and located in Columbus, Ohio. The van in question is an orange 1975 Dodge Santana Camper van, which isn't all that noteworthy by itself... but this one was featured in the 2004 cult-classic Napoleon Dynamite, making its new owner an especially lucky fellow. It's got a couple of beds, a stove, a refrigerator and a sink, though a Liger is not included. Take a good look at all the pics in our gallery below and remember to Vote Pedro for President.
Spy Shot: Production interior of Chevy Volt (maybe)
Rumormill: Lexus LF-A... Stillborn?
Ford reveals 2010 Mustang badge
REPORT: Chrysler may sell Dodge Viper rather than kill it
Audi develops R8 GT3 racer
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan Murano
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Dodge Journey R/T
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Jeep Compass Sport 4x2
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Porsche Carrera S
First Drive: 2009 Honda Fit Sport
