Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[VIDEO: Volvo's 81-year history in 9 minutes]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/11/video-volvos-81-year-history-in-9-minutes/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/11/video-volvos-81-year-history-in-9-minutes/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/11/video-volvos-81-year-history-in-9-minutes/#commentsFiled under: , ,


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Volvo has been making automobiles since April 14, 1927, and while most of us know Volvo for its safe and sometimes fun-to-drive vehicles, the Swedish automaker's history is of course more complicated than that. For instance, Volvo earned its reputation as a safe automaker before it sold a single car by getting in a head-to-head accident with an American car, which totaled the domestic while only scratching the Volvo. Volvo also featured the first standard three-point safety belt and was the first automaker to have a catalytic converter. Hit the jump to catch up on Volvology. It's a very solid nine-minute Volvo history course, even if it fails to mention current owner Ford all-together.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: Volvo's 81-year history in 9 minutes

VIDEO: Volvo's 81-year history in 9 minutes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>240850FordRally RacingRallyRacingSwedenVolvo HistoryVolvoHistoryFri, 11 Apr 2008 09:31:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1161174/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/04/11/video-volvos-81-year-history-in-9-minutes/1161174/article-detail.xml 1161174 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/04/volvo_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/04/volvo.jpg <![CDATA[Volvo found guilty of manslaughter, fined]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/01/volvo-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-fined/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/01/volvo-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-fined/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/01/volvo-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-fined/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Two children tragically lost their lives when French driver Catherine Kohtz lost control of her Volvo 850. The 1999 incident, which Kohtz blamed on a loss of braking ability in her Volvo, has led to French courts handing down a finding of manslaughter. The guilty verdict against Volvo also carries an €200,000 fine, though Volvo holds that there wasn't anything wrong with the car's braking system and will likely appeal. Driver Kohtz was fined €300 and also sentenced to a six-month jail term, which was suspended.

Kohtz's accident was initially attributed to reckless operation, and tensions in the town of Wasselonne have been stirred by the circumstances of crash. Rumblings of Kohtz, relatively wealthy, having bought her way out of a more serious outcome for the death of two ten year olds from lesser means have been dividing the town in eastern France. An investigation determined that the brakes in the Volvo 850 suffered from a problem known to Volvo. Rather than recall 180,000 850s, Volvo is alleged to have quietly asked its dealers to fix a rubber pipe prone to rupture or detachment, causing a loss of braking ability. An investigating magistrate contended that service documents instructing dealers how to repair the problem were overly vague, leading to an improper and ineffective repair on Kohtz's car. For a company with such an emphasis on safety, its surprising that it would try to cover up a major flaw in such a crucial system. Volvo argued that the service documents that were seized outline an innocuous fault, and that something else like a loose water bottle behind the pedal was to blame.

[Source: BBC via Winding Road; The Independent]

Volvo found guilty of manslaughter, fined originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>850accidentbrakingcourtfatalfinefrancefrenchlawsuitmanslaughterrulingvolvoFri, 01 Feb 2008 09:54:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1103658/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/02/01/volvo-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-fined/1103658/article-detail.xml 1103658 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/02/volvo_850-450-op_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/02/volvo_850-450-op.jpg <![CDATA[Hennessey turbo-tunes the Ford GT]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/27/hennessey-turbo-tunes-the-ford-gt/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/27/hennessey-turbo-tunes-the-ford-gt/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/27/hennessey-turbo-tunes-the-ford-gt/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Hennessey Performance seems to have a knack for producing modified supercars that are as intoxicating as its namesake Cognac. Hennessey specializes in top-level American muscle, having earned its street cred by strapping twin turbochargers to the Dodge Viper to crank power up to 1000 horsepower. Now Hennessey has turned its attention over to the Viper's main rival in the battle for American supercar dominance: the Ford GT.

The Ford GT was, of course, created as rolling homage to the Le Mans-winning GT40 of yore, and the modern retro-mobile lives up to the legend by challenging Ferraris just as it did in the sixties. But cavallino-trouncing performance just wasn't enough to John Hennessey and his crew, so they went to work. Two Garret turbochargers, an intercooler, a new exhaust system, a custom intake manifold, a revised engine management system and a whole slew of other modifications later, the Hennessey Ford GT Twin Turbo puts out Koenigsegg-like levels of power: 850 horsepower and a matching 850 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to propel the throwback sportscar to sixty in a claimed 2.6 seconds, covering the quarter-mile in 10.6 seconds on its way to a very Veyron-like top speed of 240 mph.

The price, of course, is not specified, but for that kind of performance, if you have to ask... But for a customer bent on American domination of even the performance supercar world, price is no object.

[Source: Hennessey]

Hennessey turbo-tunes the Ford GT originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>40850fordgthennesseyturbotwinWed, 27 Dec 2006 14:02:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/725072/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2006/12/27/hennessey-turbo-tunes-the-ford-gt/725072/article-detail.xml 725072 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/12/hen-gt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/12/hen-gt.jpg <![CDATA[RR of the Day: Volvo 854 T5R - Super Swede]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/11/rr-of-the-day-volvo-854-t5r-super-swede/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/11/rr-of-the-day-volvo-854-t5r-super-swede/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/11/rr-of-the-day-volvo-854-t5r-super-swede/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



We admit it's a little unfair to feature a car as RR of the Day that's owned and was built by a tuning shop, but frankly we were so impressed with this 1995 Volvo 855 T5R built by RKAutotechnik in California that we just had to show you. The car you see here is one of only 180 yellow sedans imported into the U.S. that 1994, but believe us, that's not what makes it special. For us, the fact that this Swedish super sedan generates over 400 wheel horsepower is a much more significant stat than its color. The inline five-cylinder motor features mods too numerous to mention, but at the heart of it all is a Garrett GT3071R turbo pressurized to 18 psi and running on pump gas. Living in the strict state of Cali, the folks at RKAutotechnik even made sure the motor would pass emmissions, which means leaving the catalytic converter in place. In fact, the one princiiple guiding the build was that the car remain a daily driver, although from the videos included after the jump it's clear that you'll hear this daily driver coming from a mile away. In addition to the monster motor, upgrades were also made to Brembo brakes, a fully adjustable suspension, 18-inch Volvo Pegasus wheels, and some more impressive audio pieces from Kenwood and JL Audio.

You can check out the Volvo's full list of mods here, photo galleries here, and be sure to follow the jump to find videos of the car being driven, on the dyno and out having fun doing burnouts.

Continue reading RR of the Day: Volvo 854 T5R - Super Swede

RR of the Day: Volvo 854 T5R - Super Swede originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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