We're already encouraged by the fact that Ralph Gilles has ascended to the top of Chrysler's design department, as the past vehicles penned under his supervision have all been some of Chrysler's best. Say what you want about the reborn 300 now, but when it was first introduced, it's styling set in motion a major tidal wave of accolades and was a fresh direction for Detroit's number 3. The 'Edge' look, as Gilles calls it, though, is getting a bit stale these days and Chrysler needs a new direction -- Sebring anyone? According to the new design chief, ChryCo's new look will be 'Organic', which Gilles says will get "our cars to be sexy again." Remember "cab forward"? That moniker could make a comeback along with the more stylish interiors that Chrysler so desperately needs.
By the time Sunday rolls around during Monterey Week, we're pretty exhausted. Too many cars and so little time. Still, that doesn't stop us from getting to the 18th fairway before the sun comes up to see the cars drive onto the grass. Duesenbergs, Bentleys, Cadillacs, Ferraris, Bugattis, and more come rolling into the show, causing us to scurry back and forth to photograph as many of them as possible. There was so much to look at this year -- the Lamborghinis, Lancias, V16 Cadillacs, 250 GT California Spyders, GM's Motorama, and Leno's tank car -- before we knew it, the Best of Show had been crowned and the day was over. We can't go through all of the class winners and special awards, but if you are interested, you can view them on the Pebble Beach Concours web site. We've put together a comprehensive gallery of high resolution photos for you, many with captions in case you aren't familiar with the cars. Enjoy!
The Cadillac Cimarron from the '80s is perhaps the very best (or worst) example of rebranding gone awry. Based on the never-meant-for-a-Caddy J Platform, which underpinned the Pontiac Sunfire through 2005, the Cimarron marked the lowest point in Cadillac's illustrious history. The Caddy-that-wasn't is so bad, in fact, that it's claimed iconic status way earlier than most of Detroit's past iron, as evidenced by our reader-submitted Future Classics post from last year.
Those of you wanting to get in on the Cimarron action before all of them are crushed the prices skyrocket should check out this posting on Craigslist. Here we have three Cimarron's from the late '80s all needing to be saved from that great crusher in the sky, and each equipped with the General's 130-horsepower 60-degree 2.8-liter boat anchor V6 engine. But wait, there's more! Act now and the seller will throw in a fourth car for parts. All this for the low, low price of just $6,000. Act now! Thanks for the tip, Matt!
Click the DR-1 above for a high-res gallery of the C4 ZR-1
At the coming out party for the new ZR1 Corvette last week at Milford Proving Grounds, General Motors decided to bring out a handful of ZR-1s (note the dash to distinguish it from the new model) from the first go around in the early '90s to remind us all of how far things have progressed in the past 18 years. The original ZR-1 was built from 1990-95 and, as with the new model, its engine was the heart of the car. In the late '80s when the ZR-1 was conceived, GM owned Lotus. The British sports car specialist designed the LT5 V8 specifically for the ZR-1. Aside from sharing bore spacing with the regular small-block, they had nothing else in common. The LT5 was an all-aluminum, dual overhead cam, 32 valve V8. At the time of its introduction, the motor had an output of 375 hp (eventually bumped to 405 hp in the last couple years of production), which was huge for the day, though tame by today's standards.
Unfortunately, the C4 Corvette wasn't a great car to start with. Even with the beefed up sills that were added to to the convertible, the C4 wasn't particularly rigid. The car rode hard and the huge clam-shell hood quivered constantly on anything but glass smooth pavement. While the expensive ZR-1 never sold in huge numbers, it did spawn some interesting derivatives that GM keeps in its Heritage Collection. Among the ones brought to Milford were one of the active suspension prototypes. These used a fully active hydraulic suspension system with no springs, but the hydraulics reportedly consumed upwards of 40 hp. One unique car from the collection is the DR-1 (above). This was the only ZR-1 convertible ever built and was produced for Don Runkle (hence the DR), who at the time was chief engineer at Chevrolet. The other three cars were stock ZR-1s of various vintages.
Check back here at 12:01 AM EST for our First Drive of the new Corvette ZR1.
Click on the image to enlarge and view another angle of the Rossi 66
There is a trend in the works that takes a modern Corvette chassis, jettisons the stock fiberglass bodywork and adds a new shell that mimics the look of an older, classic 'Vette. We have seen Classic Reflection Coachworks' take on the '62 'vert with C5 underpinnings, and now a company by the name of Blue Fusion has tackled the iconic split window. One problem: their press release continually refers to the 1966 split window, which doesn't exist as the only year the two-piece rear glass was produced was '63. But, let's not let silly little things like facts get in the way. The resultant Rossi 66 cribs the workings of a modern C6 Corvette and adds a unique Sting Ray look.
Blue Fusion plans to debut its Rossi 66 at the upcoming SEMA event in November, assuming that the company is able to find the funding it needs to actually produce its first car. So far, all we have to look at are the renderings below, though we can clearly see that the '66 '63 body looks much better grafted onto a modern platform than the '62 does. We'll see if it makes an appearance in Sin City later this year.
Click above for high-res gallery of the featured Lamborghinis at Pebble
While Pebble Beach is perhaps best known as a place to honor classic American and European cars, sports cars have always held a special place in the hearts of the Concours committee and judges. With 45 years under its belt, Lamborghini is certainly deserving of a special place on both counts. As a featured marque here at Pebble, Lamborghini was extremely well represented with a selection of exquisite rare examples. Nine vehicles were on display being judged by 40-year test pilot Valentino Balboni among others.
The lineup of seldom-seen Lambos included the earliest known Lamborghini 350GT, the earliest known Miura, the earliest Miura SV, the Miura Roadster fresh from a yearlong restoration that swapped its army green paint for the correct blue metalflake, a 350GTS, 350GTZ by Zagato, an early LP400 Countach, and three one-off concepts - the 1990 P140, 1996 Raptor, and the Gallardo Concept S. A truly spectacular selection of models representing the fabled Italian marque. Check out the gallery below and follow the jump for the full press release.
Gallery: Lamborghini at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours
Click image above for high-res gallery of pics of the Ferrari California Spyders
The 250 GT California Spyder is one of Ferrari's most celebrated (and valuable) models, most often remembered by the general public for its starring role in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This year marked the Spyder's 50th anniversary, and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance celebrated the occasion by giving the car its very own class. Six variations of the car were produced, all of which were displayed on the 18th fairway including the original prototype and a competition version that raced at both Sebring and Le Mans. Follow the jump for more information on these amazing cars and enjoy the high resolution gallery below.
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.
If you're the type who disappears on the weekend only to spend your first hour of work on Monday morning going through all the posts you missed on Autoblog, well, then you missed a lot this past weekend. In addition to our extensive coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and all the events that occurred in Monterey, we also took you to Detroit for the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise. Below you'll find a comprehensive yet easy to navigate group of our posts and galleries from the Dream Cruise. Be warned, it may take longer than usual to absorb everything you missed this weekend, but it's absolutely worth it. Below you'll find booth tours for each of the Detroit Three, and there's lots more after the jump. Enjoy and we'll see you next year on Woodward Ave.
Click above for high-res gallery of this year's Pebble Beach Best of Show
The confetti has fallen, the champagne corks have flown, and the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Best of Show award has gone to the gorgeous 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta owned by John and Mary Shirley of Medina Washington. While every car here is truly extraordinary, the Best of Show car is always a stunner. This year was no exception. One of possibly five 8C 2900s bodied by Touring, this 8C has the supercharged straight 8 that was good for an amazing 180 hp. Some 30 8Cs were produced by Farina and Touring from 1937-1939, and few are the same or as nice as this particular example. Besides the trinkets and trophy, the Best of Show car also gets a boost in MSRP typically, being able to justifiably call itself the best collector car around. While we might fill in a few more galleries and posts to round out our coverage of Monterey 2008, we wanted to get this news to you asap. So click on the pics and enjoy.
We're already encouraged by the fact that Ralph Gilles has ascended to the top of Chrysler's design department, as the past vehicles penned under his supervision have all been some of Chrysler's best. Say what you want about the reborn 300 now, but when it was first introduced, it's styling set in motion a major tidal wave of accolades and was a fresh direction for Detroit's number 3. The 'Edge' look, as Gilles calls it, though, is getting a bit stale these days and Chrysler needs a new direction -- Sebring anyone? According to the new design chief, ChryCo's new look will be 'Organic', which Gilles says will get "our cars to be sexy again." Remember "cab forward"? That moniker could make a comeback along with the more stylish interiors that Chrysler so desperately needs. 
First Drive: 2009 Honda Fit Sport
Officially Official: Honda unveils updated 2009 Civic
Facelifted 2009 Honda Civic sedan gets scantastic reveal
Monterey 2008: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
Infiniti G37 Convertible revealed ahead of L.A.![First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 [w/VIDEO]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/08/zr1-1st-drive-1280-46_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 [w/VIDEO]
First Drive: 2008 Range Rover Sport
Woodward 2008: Monday morning recap
VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 does epic burnouts, we have proof
