Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Cars 2 coming a year early in summer 2011]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/25/cars-2-coming-a-year-early-in-summer-2011/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/25/cars-2-coming-a-year-early-in-summer-2011/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/25/cars-2-coming-a-year-early-in-summer-2011/#commentsFiled under:


Click above for high-res gallery of Cars photoshops done by readers

The Disney/Pixar movie Cars didn't have the box office appeal of movies like Wall·e and Toy Story, but on toy store shelves, the autos-only flick was a grand slam. Merchandising and the recent boon for sequels are two great reasons for film executives to make Cars 2. Disney and Pixar are so excited about an encore for Lightning McQueen and his buddy Mater that the 3D sequel has been moved up from 2012 to the summer of 2011. The highly anticipated (at least by us) Cars 2 will reportedly feature both carry-over and all-new characters, but we're assuming Lightning McQueen and Mater will be central to the plot. Hopefully Paul Newman will be well enough to come back for a second helping of Hudson Hornet.

Antz and Ratatoulie director Brad Lewis will take the reigns for Cars 2, and a big part of his job is to wow us with 3D race scenes and super high-def imagery while keeping all-ages storyline that made Cars such a good flick. To keep a new generation of adolescents interested five years after the original hit the silver screen, Pixar will release a series of shorts before the movie comes out, starting with Mater's Tall Tales. The movie is still three years away, and we'll spend that time hoping some automaker doesn't hijack the movie and make it a 90-minute marketing exercise.

Gallery: Pixar CARS Photochops


[Source: Reuters]

Cars 2 coming a year early in summer 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>animationCars 2Cars2DisneyLightning McQueenLightningMcqueenMaterPixarThu, 25 Sep 2008 16:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Spoiler Alert: Super GT Rd. 3 Results]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/05/spoiler-alert-super-gt-rd-3-results/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/05/spoiler-alert-super-gt-rd-3-results/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/05/spoiler-alert-super-gt-rd-3-results/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


Click above for a huge, high-res gallery of Rd. 3 of the '08 SuperGT season.

After previous incarnations of the Nissan GT-R ran away with successive JGTC titles, Japan's GT Association decided to inflict "success ballast" on race winners in an attempt to level the playing field (i.e give Toyota and Honda a chance).

As the current GT-R race car is built to 2009 Super GT specifications, the GT-A handed it a weight penalty of 50kgs added right from the start of the season. After winning Round 1 in Suzuka car number 23 had to carry an additional 50kgs at Round 2 in Sugo, which it promptly won anyway. Then thanks to also setting numerous fastest laps and other speeding offenses it was deemed that Benoit Treluyer and Satoshi Motoyama's ride would have to port an massive 200ks (440lbs) of ballast at this weekend's race at Fuji Speedway.

That presents a couple of problems. Firstly, where the heck do you safely stow 200kgs of lead? And would the car meet GT-A regulations even if Nissan found a way to do it? The ruling body's compromise was to give the car a 115kg penalty and fit a stifling restrictor to the GT-R's air intake. That knocked 30kph off the GT-R's maximum velocity at the end of Fuji's 1.5km straight, and in the words of Benoit, "Gives us no chance at all."

Follow through the jump to find out if he was right, and to find out how Lightning McQueen faired in GT300 after qualifying on pole yesterday.

Gallery: 2008 Super GT - Round 3

Continue reading Spoiler Alert: Super GT Rd. 3 Results

Spoiler Alert: Super GT Rd. 3 Results originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 May 2008 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fjui speed wayFjuiSpeedWayfuji speed wayFujiSpeedWaygt-rlightning mcqueenLightningMcqueennsxsc-430super gtSuperGtMon, 05 May 2008 09:56:00 EST<![CDATA[Kachow! Lightning McQueen 13th in first race, just ahead of Mach 5]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/17/kachow-lightning-mcqueen-13th-in-first-race-just-ahead-of-mach/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/17/kachow-lightning-mcqueen-13th-in-first-race-just-ahead-of-mach/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/17/kachow-lightning-mcqueen-13th-in-first-race-just-ahead-of-mach/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Lightning McQueen came home 13th in his first race in the Japanese Super GT-300 Championship, one place ahead of new rival, Speed Racer Mach Go Go Go.

The rookie, who looks suspiciously like last year's Team Toy Story APR Toyota MR-S, has apparently been lured away from The Piston Cup by a company that makes products under license of Pixar and Disney. No matter, my three-year-old was beside himself with joy when he saw number 95 hit the track, and I suspect he was not alone.

14th pace finisher, the Mach Go VEMAC 320R (below), is far from new to Super GT's 300hp class, but may get a little more attention internationally once Speed Racer is released Stateside.

Kachow! Lightning McQueen 13th in first race, just ahead of Mach 5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CarsDisneyLightning McQueenLightningMcqueenMach 5Mach FiveMach5MachFivePixarSuper GTSuperGtMon, 17 Mar 2008 16:58:00 EST<![CDATA[First review of CARS says film has a flat]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/first-review-of-cars-says-film-has-a-flat/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/first-review-of-cars-says-film-has-a-flat/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/first-review-of-cars-says-film-has-a-flat/#commentsFiled under:



We here at Autoblog have been unabashedly eager to see the upcoming animated feature from Pixar Studios called CARS in which hot rod racer Lightning McQueen rolls into a sleepy hollow and make friends with the colorful characters of Carburetor County. So it is with much chagrin that we report to you this first review of Director John Lasseter's magnum opus. CARS has received an unflattering grade of 2 out of 5 stars from Sarah Lindner of the Austin American-Statesman.

On the film's plot Ms. Lindner comments, "For a huge stretch of the film, there's not what you would call a story going on. There are just cars hanging out." Uh, is that a bad thing? That's how we plan to spend our retirement - hanging out with cars. It seems the great effort on Mr. Lasseter's part to infuse CARS with enough auto-related minutia to please even the most diehard enthusiast has been lost on this reviewer. For instance, how cool is it that the numbers on the license plate of Luigi, a Fiat 500 in the film, represent the latitude and longitude of the Ferrari factory in Maranello. That's worth at least one star alone in our book.

Look for an official Autoblog review of CARS when we finally get a chance to see it after today's nationwide release.

[Source: Austin360]         

First review of CARS says film has a flat originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CARSdisneyfilmlightning mcqueenLightningMcqueenmoviepixarpixar studiosPixarStudiosFri, 09 Jun 2006 15:26:00 EST<![CDATA[Kelley Blue Book values CARS star at $1.5 million]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/24/kelley-blue-book-values-cars-star-at-1-5-million/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/24/kelley-blue-book-values-cars-star-at-1-5-million/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/24/kelley-blue-book-values-cars-star-at-1-5-million/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

In a bit of creative (if liberally stretched) cross-brand marketing, Kelley Blue Book, the folks responsible for helping consumers evaluate the value of all things four-wheeled, have teamed up with Walt Disney and Pixar to offer assessments of how much the animated stars in CARS are worth.

The upcoming film, slated to hit theatres June 9 will star Lightning McQueen, a 200-mph racer KBB believes is worth $1.5 million, the most expensive valuation in the guide's history. KBB executive editorial director and market analyst Jack R. Nerad also reports that this marks the first time that his company has attached a value to a tow truck: "'Tow-Mater, as this specific tow truck likes to be called, was difficult to place a value on without a pink slip or any appropriate badging, but its value has been enhanced due to its low-volume, hard-to-find model status.'" Uh-huh.

Check out the press release at the link.

[Source: Auto Racing Daily; Pixar Animation Studios]

 

Kelley Blue Book values CARS star at $1.5 million originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 May 2006 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>$1.5MAnimated MovieAnimatedMovieCarsDisneyKBBKelley Blue BookKelleyBlueBookLightning McQueenLightningMcqueenPixarTow MaterTowMaterWalt DisneyWaltDisneyWed, 24 May 2006 13:39:00 EST<![CDATA[Detroit's involvement in CARS]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/18/detroit-s-involvement-in-cars/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/18/detroit-s-involvement-in-cars/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/18/detroit-s-involvement-in-cars/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



As anyone who reads Autoblog is aware by now, we're pretty jazzed about Pixar's upcoming June 9th release of CARS, which is shaping up to be a celebration of the auto on celluloid. A pair of recent Detroit News articles reveals just how large a part the domestic duo of Ford and GM has played in the movie's making, in addition to our already reported on involvement of Porsche.

The film's director, John Lasseter, has been a good friend of Ford's design diva J Mays since 2000. The pair visited SEMA and attended the Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance together. Mays even visited Pixar's studios in Emeryville, CA on more than one occasion to check on the film's progress. The most prominent Ford in CARS ended up being a 1949 Mercury Police Cruiser - the town's sheriff (pictured above).

Lasseter also visited General Motors and spent time with some of the General's designers. The director was one of the very first people to view the redesigned C6 Corvette, in fact. CARS features a few cars from GM including a '59 Impala lowrider named Ramone, a '75 Cadillac Coupe de Ville named Tex and an unnamed green HUMMER.

J Mays and the Blue Oval's current head of things that go fast, Hau Thai-Tang, were among a group of 700 who viewed an early screening of the movie at Pixar's studios last weekend.

[Source: Detroit News]

Detroit's involvement in CARS originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Apr 2006 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>C6 CorvetteC6CorvetteCARScartoonsDisneyfilmsJ MaysJMaysLightning McQueenLightningMcqueenmoviesPixarSally CarreraSallyCarreraTue, 18 Apr 2006 19:02:00 EST