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SEMA 2009: What we didn't get to cover

Every year at SEMA, we fill the week with posts featuring special vehicles and products that we felt were important enough to share. Generally, they are the most newsworthy projects and new model introductions, but sometimes they are just things that caught our eye. When all is said and done, we think we've given all of you a good taste of what's on offer here in the desert. Of course, there are always things we see and shoot that don't make it into the regular posts from the days we are here. We end up with a few hundred photos of random ... Read more →

Unique Autosports South gets crazy custom-built automotive pool table Noah Joseph

We see plenty of automotive-inspired products roll through our tip line, and most of them are pretty subtle: A logo here, a racing stripe there, a touch of carbon fiber or vulcanized rubber.... ...

"Marquis DeSoto" wins NY Times' Collectible Car of the Year award Jonathon Ramsey

It is neither a Mercury Grand Marquis nor a DeSoto, but perhaps it could be considered a kind of royalty. Furniture maker Steve Heller wanted to build a car of his own design, and possessed of a ...

Because the Chevy Aveo5 doesn't suck enough as is... Alex Nunez

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/This_won_t_help_GM_s_case_for_a_bailout'; Water's wet, fire burns, and the Chevy Aveo5 sucks. Drivers in the Middle East who voluntarily subject themselves ...

Looks can deceive: 6.6L Duramax-powered Buick GNX clone Alex Nunez

The car you see here is not a GNX. Hell, it's not even a Buick. You'd be forgiven if you thought it was, though, and it does sport a turbocharger underhood. David Morad was so enamored with the 6.6L ...

Talon Performance creates a quad only a mother could love 1 year ago on Autoblog

Talon Performance is where "Innovation meets the street." That combination apparently yields results like the Talon Street Quad, a body-kitted 4-wheeler based on the Kawasaki KFX700. We think it looks like the innovation and the street got in a big argument, attacked a manatee with bats, and then ...

VW brings back Golf GTI Pirelli in the UK 1 year ago on Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Golf GTI Pirelli The Golf GTI Pirelli is back (but only in the UK right now). Celebrating its arrival after a 25-year absence, the Pirelli-themed Volkswagen hatchback features an enhanced version of the 2.0-liter T-FSI powerplant boosted to 230 PS (about ...

Build your own big rig: International launches configurator for LoneStar 1 year ago on Autoblog

Truckers are like motorcycle riders in the way that they invariably customize their rides. It's probably just as challenging to find a bone stock tractor as it is an unembellished Fat Boy. When you're plying the roads as much as the big rigs do, why not have some fun and stand apart from the rest ...

Kid Kustoms offers tins and fins for the jogging stroller 1 year ago on Autoblog

Kid Kustoms, offering "Vintage Tins and Fins for your Tots," has brought a serious touch of class to the boring jogging stroller. It's time to ditch the ho-hum toddler hauler in exchange for one of these custom, and collapsible, composite lightweight strollers. Whether you choose the Classic, ...

GM making sure Camaro accessories are ready 1 year ago on Autoblog

click the picture to view the video Genuine GM Accessories are as obsessively tested as the rest of the car during the design and prototype stage. When the production tweaks are being given to the basic car, the Accessories wizards are in there too, mocking up and trying out different creative ways ...

Truckticular implants: The Stretch Truck 1 year ago on Autoblog

Is a 20-foot long, four-door longbed pickup still too small for your needs? Whether it's ego or an overabundance of backsides to seat, size definitely matters to Stretch Truck. The Denver based customizer will add extra length to your hauler (they've got a thing for Fords, it seems) with a seamless ...

For Sale: Zagato Caddy 1 year ago on Autoblog

Say "Italian-styled Cadillac" and any car person will shoot back "Allante." It does appear, though, that Zagato executed coachwork on top of a fourth-generation Eldorado before Cadillac ever thought of shipping its wares to and from Pininfarina. This Eldo looks a lot like a Ferrari, and there's a ...

eBay Find Of The Day: Challenger wagon 1 year ago on Autoblog

It's always dangerous to get excited about a car that looks halfway decent in pictures. This creative body project that was born from a very rare 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T SE is just such a car. Yes, the value of this car has been pretty well erased by the addition of an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser ...

Rumormill: Dodge Challenger SS Drag package weeks away 1 year ago on Autoblog

Dodge Challenger Super Stock shown from 2006 SEMA Show Just like in the '60s, some people will take their new 2008 Dodge Challengers to the drags. Chrysler is reportedly ready to make this very easy for new Challenger owners. Allpar is reporting that within a few weeks, there will issue forth from ...

Friday Fun: RWD Scion xB with Chevy V8 power! 1 year ago on Autoblog

click above for more high-res iamges of the V8-powered Scion xB Forget about body kits, custom fiberglass enclosures for your woofer and LCDs in the headrests. This is the only way to make the Scion xB entertaining in our humble opinion. Oh yeah, Scion wants you to think its cars are more fun than ...

Solstice F430: Abomination or Pontiac perfected? 1 year ago on Autoblog

click above to view more images of the Solstice F430 There's a pretty healthy argument to be made for leaving the styling of your Pontiac Solstice alone. It did end up in production virtually off the show floor, as evidenced by the cockpit's spaciousness and spectacular materials (hint: saracasm). ...

CarDomain Find of the Day: V8, mid-engined Ford Festiva 1 year ago on Autoblog

click above image for gallery Festiva, mid-mounted V8 – okay, we're with you. Front wheel drive? Uh, sounds like a fine way to blow a lot of dollars adapting components in order to send the power to the wrong pair of 13-inch tires. No Festiva conversion will ever top the SHOgun, which planted ...

Graphics accelerator: Nvidia's custom computer housed in a Porsche Cayenne wheel 1 year ago on Autoblog

click above image for more pics Automotive-branded computers are nothing new, but this takes it to new levels. The computer hardware is housed in a chromed 18-inch wheel from the Porsche Cayenne sport-utility, wrapped in Bridgestone rubber with twin exhaust-silencers housing the liquid cooling ...

Hennessey releases details on Venom GT 2 years ago on Autoblog

Evidently not satisfied with having trounced the Bugatti Veyron in Road & Track's 0-200 mph showdown with its twin-turbo Viper, those tuners on speed over at Hennessey Performance Engineering are preparing a mid-engined supercar of their own. We brought you initial news, coupled with a teaser ...

eBay Find of the Day: Jeep Grand Cherokee Commando Edition 2 years ago on Autoblog

Here's a familiar morning routine now that the weather's turning colder: start car, set heat on high, retreat inside to finish coffee. There's plenty of debate for and against the practice of warming up by idling, but the unfortunate story of this ZJ could bolster the argument for just getting in ...

SEMA Preview: Honda debuting two tuned Accord Coupes 2 years ago on Autoblog

Click image to enlarge We're starting to get that overwound spring feeling in the pits of our stomachs as SEMA is roaring down upon us. Next week, the ginormous event for tuners and aftermarket manufacturers gets underway in Las Vegas, and Honda will be there with two Accord Coupes they spiced up ...

eBay Find of the Day: Topless Taurus makes us Neff swoon 2 years ago on Autoblog

Having healthy fascination with the SHO is one thing; that car was kick-ass, so the lust is understandable. This, on the otherhand, is just... wrong. Not even the novelty of a Taurus convertible can redeem this car from being anything more than a wrong-headed bucket of, um, fertilizer. Sawz-All ...

Bentley to increase in-house coachbuilding 2 years ago on Autoblog

Bentley Continental GT Speed - Click to view hi-res image gallery. As Bentley's production numbers continue to grow, taking the classic British marque farther from the fringe and closer to the mainstream – that is, in as much as six-digit luxury automobiles could be considered "mainstream" ...

eBay find of the day: KaiserCamino? 2 years ago on Autoblog

While Ford was first to market with the pickup-cum-car Ranchero, and El Camino has attained universal descriptor status, like Kleenex, it looks like Kaiser presaged the idea in 1954 with this one-off. Kaiser was one of many smaller independents that had yet to die off in the early 1950s. The ...

Honk? How 'bout "Move it, Sucka!"? 2 years ago on Autoblog

It'll cost you about the same as an iPod, but it's so much cooler. Or obnoxious. Mike Kosco dreamed up a way to make his Hummer growl, as well as sing whatever nuggets that could be crammed into 256 megabytes, too. If you're driving around a Hummer with the Incredible Hulk on the hood, you should ...

eBay Find Of The Day: Porsche Wagon 2 years ago on Autoblog

click image for gallery This is the best.wagon.evar. Perhaps it's better described as a "shooting brake." Whatevs, the lines of the Porsche 944 lend themselves shockingly well to wagonization. Our Dutch is nonexistent, but from what we can gather, this 1981 944 Turbo could be yours if you've got ...

eBay find of the day: RX-7-based Jaguar E-type replica 2 years ago on Autoblog

click the pic above to see a gallery of 17 shots Double sacrilege, or sincere tribute? We sincerely love Mazda's RX-7, yet we've also got a place in our hearts for E-Type Jaguars. We're a little sad to see that a 1985 RX-7 was sacrificed to create this very convincing E-Type replica, but maybe we ...

VIDEO: From cutting up Ferraris to building the Eco-Jet: Metalcrafters 2 years ago on Autoblog

The most entertaining part of this video, by far, is the stupid ad-libbed "purr" from the newscaster at the end, as they go to banter before the probable throw to the weather. That's what newscasters do when the story is done, say some insipid crap, then toss to the meteorologist to segue from ...

Zagato puts Diatto GT Ottovu into limited production 2 years ago on Autoblog

Click on the image above to view the new Diatto GT Ottovu in high resolution Hot on the heels of our Top 10 Coachbuilt Supercars comes the announcement from Zagato that the Italian carrozeria will be reviving the stoic Diatto marque with a small run of the Diatto GT Ottovu. First shown at the ...

Autoblog's Top 10 Coachbuilt Supercars 2 years ago on Autoblog

Sometimes the past deserves to remain in the past, but once in a while the automotive industry reaches into its history to resurrect something worthwhile whose demise was regrettable and whose return is welcome. The return of coachbuilding is one example of an industry trend we're glad is making a ...

eBay Find Of The Day: Terchero 2 years ago on Autoblog

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Eeeek_Toyota_Tercel_pickup_truck'; What is it about the front-loaded form factor introduced by the Ford Ranchero in 1957 that the compulsion to modify other cars in its image is so great? Witness this first-generation Toyota Tercel - it's got a "needs ...

Citroen 2CV ala Picasso 2 years ago on Autoblog

The Citroen 2CV is already a unique-looking car, with Citroen's distinct mid-century-modern style and flair. The French auto could be considered the opening salvo in a styling onslaught that led to such heights of style as the DS. A regular 2CV could be considered a piece of art, and Andy Saunders ...

VIDEO: Hangin' with the Glick and his P4/5 2 years ago on Autoblog

It's what we all aspire to as car guys; to be wealthy enough to indulge any flights of fancy and see our dreams rendered in metal and composite. James Glickenhaus' ultimate custom, the one of a kind Ferrari P 4/5 has earned the right to wear official Ferrari badging, and we don't know of anyone ...

Pricey Pickup: 1969 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow truck for sale 2 years ago on Autoblog

All that money, and it looks like a lowered Ford Courier with a nice paintjob -- from the side, anyway. This Silver Shad-amino (Shadero?) has just undergone a two-year restoration by Florida's Foreman Motors. It'd be just the thing out on the Estate, cruising the grounds surrounded by sumptuous ...

eBay Find of the Day: Studebaker Taurus 2 years ago on Autoblog

click the pic above to see a gallery Studebaker mash-ups with later Ford vehicles aren't an entirely new idea, but we've never seen something quite like this. The seller of this car should be beaten with a sand-filled hose for attempted robbery. $7500 for a Stude-nosed Taurus wagon with a ratty ...

Boxy, but quick - twin-turbo Supra engined Volvo 244 2 years ago on Autoblog

If such a thing is possible, Volvo 240s have an even mustier image in Australia than they do in the United States. That's good for those of us who know that they're anvil tough and respond well to modifications. Being front engine, rear wheel drive and European, the ingredients for a stormer are ...

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Autoblog Podcast #155: 'Twas the night before LA...

Chris, Dan, and Editor Paukert go over some LA Preview action and quietly whoop it up on the podcast.

 
 

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