Autoblog

Corporate clients have long grown accustomed to being shuttled around in the back seats of Panther-platform Fords. The throwback Town Car that most car services run doesn't exactly sip fuel, so T.J. Donaghy of Orlando, Florida decided a Toyota Camry Hybrid would be a good addition to his fleet at Aristocrat Transportation. City officials have denied Donaghy's attempt at greening his livery fleet, reasoning that the Camry doesn't fit any of the five classes of vehicles for hire that the City of Orlando regulates. The city contends that the type of service offered by Donaghy can only use luxury cars. Adding to the confusion, the city has no exact language defining exactly what comprises a luxury vehicle, but like Potter Stewart, they know it when they see it, and it's not the Camry.

There is a real concern that opening things up for the Camry could have Kia Rios running around as "limousines" if some line in the sand is not drawn, but the high price of fuel along with ongoing greening efforts may make the path easier for the Camry. Other communities in Florida already allow Camry hybrids, also setting some precedent. It seems that the crux of the dustup is the idea of what exactly a "luxury" working car is, and how to fit the Camry Hybrid in somewhere without stretching the definition so much that King Midgets could get a free pass. All of this could have been avoided if Donaghy had just coughed up the loot for an LS600hL, though the Hybrid Synergy Drive system in that vehicle is used to bolster performance instead of fuel economy. Thanks for the tip, Bill!

[Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Click above to see more images of the 2008 Corvette C6R

Yellow and black, it's a classic combination. It can convey speed yet spur people to make cautious moves. After all, Wasps are yellow and black, and if you're not careful, you'll regret denying them deference. Bad Boy Vettes has been delivering stings on the racetrack with its C6R, and the car gets a revised livery for 2008. The main color is Velocity Yellow, with lots of BadBoy Black accents. A blacked out tail panel returns, reprising the BlackTail descriptor, and there's a new "scrape stripe" based on the teeth of mascot skull Jake. The headlights also get a blackout treatment; all the better for intimidating the competition. Obsidian also graces the rockers, and it shouldn't be hard to spot the new C6Rs with this color scheme as they compete wheel-to-blacked-out-wheel in the upcoming ALMS season.

[Source: Bad Boy Vettes]

The Honda Racing F1 Team didn't win a lot of fans when it pulled the bold move of ditching its sponsors and painting the 2007 car like a globe. Thankfully, the Japanese team has revealed that it'll be ditching the map scheme for next season's car, the RA108.

The world map livery was instituted last year to promote Honda's environmental conscience, but came off as an ironic statement considering that it was painted on a gasoline-slurping F1 car. The only slogan on the car was the rear wing that pointed spectators to the team's tree-hugging website, myearthdream.com. But while the 2008 car won't carry the global map theme itself, the new livery will bear some sort of environmental slant to it. We'll have to wait for the it's unveiling on January 29 to see exactly what Honda has in store for us.

In related news, Honda F1 announced that it's hired veteran Austrian racer Alexander Wurz as its test driver. Wurz had announced his immediate retirement from F1 in the middle of last season, and cited the opportunity to work with Honda's new chief Ross Brawn as a principal motivating factor for his return.

[Sources: F1-Live and autosport]

Rick Kranz of Automotive News recently penned a piece asking just how popular will the upcoming Chrysler 300C LWB (Long Wheelbase) be, and is Chrysler underestimating its appeal to the public. DCX is saying it expects to sell around 70 percent of its LWB models to the livery business, which includes limo and high-end taxi services. But Myles Kovacs, president of Dub magazine, thinks the company is underestimating the car's appeal to the public, which includes the superstar athletes and entertainers that grace his mag's covers.

And it's not just the 300C's image, but also it's practical increase in interior volume, that will endear it to the big and tall among us. Its wheelbase is stretched by a full six inches, and we can tell you after sitting in one at the New York Auto Show that the difference in interior volume is profound.  Back seat passengers sit so far back that an intercom system should be standard equipment so they can communicate with those up front.

And don't forget about all the old money out there that Lincoln has been attracting with its Town Car Executive L. While prices of the 300C LWB have yet to be announced, Chrysler has assured us that it will be substantially under the Town Car's price of around $51,345.

[Source: Automotive News via Winding Road]