Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix

Short of a divine calling or some sort of athletic/outdoorsy obsession, let's be honest here... who wants to get up before 8 AM on a Sunday? Racing fans who did rise with the songbirds yesterday, however, were rewarded with one hell of a spectacle. In fact, this past Race Sunday was loaded with wheel-to-wheel action in all manner of motorsports, between the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR Coca-Cola 600, Nurburgring 24 and, of course, the Monaco Grand Prix. We're talking about the latter here, and if you've yet to cue up the TiVo, we suggest you go no further. For those looking for a recap of the day's events on the narrow, winding streets of Monte Carlo, click below to read on.

Monte Carlo is to the World Rally Championship what the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula One. Aside from being held in the same tiny European principality, it's probably the most iconic, most well-known rally stage in the world. They couldn't cancel it. They wouldn't. They have. Sort of.

Headlines around the motorsport world have been shouting that the Monte Carlo stage will be absent from the 2009 WRC calendar for only the third time since the series' inception. But that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Starting in two years' time, every stage on the race calendar will alternate years, in a bid to include as many locations as possible in the series each year without overcrowding the calendar and putting additional stress on the teams. (And the motoring press, for that matter, thank you very much.) Whereas this year saw no less than 16 rally stages in the WRC, next year will be reduced to 15, and the 2009 and 2010 calendars will be burdened by only 12 rounds each. Yet over the course of the '09 and '10, 24 countries will have hosted WRC stages. So in point of fact, while the Monte Carlo stage is cancelled for the 2009 schedule, it returns in 2010 and will apparently alternate every year thereafter.

Follow the jump to view the full calendars for the 2009 and 2010 seasons of the FIA World Rally Championship.

[Source: Autosport]

A member of the GM Inside News forum posted today that he received an email from General Motors announcing the end of the Monte Carlo. We rang up the General for confirmation and received word that the Monte Carlo is indeed being offed. May 4th will reportedly be the last day you can order a Monte Carlo and production of the car at GM's Oshawa plant in Canada will cease on June 20th. Apparently production of the Monte Carlo is being cancelled to make room for all those extra Malibu orders the automaker is expecting when the new 2008 model sedan begins production in October. This is the sixth generation Monte Carlo, and when asked if we'd see the name return on a new model in the near future, we got the canned answer from GM, "We do not comment on future product." Sigh. Monte Carlo sales were off 64.2% in January of 2007 with only 1,639 units being sold. In 2006, 34,113 units were sold, a slight improvement over 2005.

[Source: GM, GM Inside News]

For those of you who thought that Chinese automakers invented the cheap knock off, this Rolls Monte Carlo is for you. Back in 1976, a company called Custom Cloud built 200 Rolls Royce look-alike kits for, of all vehicles, a 1976 Monte Carlo coupe. Rolls Royce rightfully got a cease-and-desist court order to stop production and destroy the remaining kits, which makes this cheesy and bizarre looking thing certifiably rare. The exterior shape was achieved with the use of fiberglass, which has retained its shape and sheen. The interior is a design statement of its own, with a maroon-carpeted dash and seating surfaces. The Monte Carlo is said to have 67,000 miles on it and the Chevy 350 V8 runs well.

It's not worth telling you where the bidding is at since the price has changed three times while writing the post, so you'll have to check here. While we can't say anybody would ever mistake this beauty as a Rolls Royce, we can say that you'll probably get quite a few stares.

[Source: eBay]

Iconic Italian design comes in many forms and one of those is the Lancia Monte Carlo. Sold abroad from 1975 through 1979, the Monte Carlo was based off the X1/9, and came equipped with a mid-mounted, 1995cc engine that produced upwards of 120 HP. It was the elder statesman to its platform sibling, yet when the Monte Carlo made its way to the U.S., more than the name was lost in translation.

Since Chevrolet used the Monte Carlo name, the Pininfarina designed coupe was rebadged the Scorpion, and then it had its stinger unceremoniously removed. The 2-liter unit originally found behind the driver was swapped out for a 1756 cc inline-four that made an anemic 80 HP, yet met the emissions standards of the day. Additionally, the sizes of the springs were increased, while new, (yes, we'll say it) uglier bumpers were fitted.

In total, 1801 examples were sold in the U.S. between 1976 and 1977, and today, Flickr member monkeyboy70 is the proud owner of #1601. He's admittedly spent entirely too much time and money bringing back his Scorpion from the brink after it sat dormant for over nine years, upgrading the engine with a 2-liter EFI setup (good for 107 HP and 130 lb.-ft. of torque), suspension, interior and paint to restore it to its former machismo laden glory. He seems to like it and so do we, so it will kick off this week's Reader Ride of the Day.

Follow the jump for a couple more pics, some details from the man, err, monkey boy himself and directions on how to submit your own ride to our Flickr pool.

It's common for a car dealer to let someone take a new car out for a ride around the block, but this 2006 Monte Carlo went for a ride around an oval shaped 2.66 mile high-banked block with no posted speed limit.

When it finally come back, it was thoroughly customized. In fact, it looked strangely like the street version of a NASCAR Nextel Cup car after a race at the nearby Talledega Superspeedway. The car was covered with dirt and bugs, had a smashed right-side mirror and a scrape along the right rear fender, not to mention a couple hundred miles on the odometer.

"When I found out what happened, I called the guy I loaned it to," said Philip Alderman, the owner of Colonial Chevrolet-Buick in Talladega.

That call confirmed what he had heard. Rick Humphries, general manager of the Talladega Superspeedway, had borrowed the car for the day. Before becoming aligned with Ford, it was not uncommon for Colonial Chevrolet to routinely lend cars to track officials. When Dale Earnhardt Jr realized that he might have to drive a Ford around the track as a part of the ride and drive to show the new track surface, he wasn't enthused and went looking for a Chevy. The Monte Carlo was the obvious choice. Earnhardt grabbed they keys and promptly began taking folks around the track, often reaching speeds of over 130 miles per hour. All was going well until Jr. got a little high and "scraped" the wall, turning the brand new Monte Carlo into an instant collector's item.

For his part, Alderman doesn't seem particularly unhappy about the incident. In fact, the Dale Jr.-enhanced Monte is now the star of his showroom.

"We didn't even wash it," Alderman said. "We're willing to sell it, as is. Rick had Dale sign the dashboard and the sticker, and we laminated all the articles and pictures of the trips Dale took in the car around the speedway.

Loaning the Monte Carlo to track official: $0

Making repairs to the Monte Carlo upon return: $125

Having Dale Earnhardt Jr scrape the wall at Talladega with the Monte Carlo at 130 mph, autograph the sticker and the dahboard, generate untold dollars in media coverage for the dealership and NOT repair it: Priceless.

[Source: The Birmingham News]

The votes are in, the judges have, uh, judged and it's official: Democrats control the House.

No, wait. Wrong election. The Truth About Cars readers and staff have chosen the 2006 winners (losers?) of The Worst Automobile Today award.

For those with stomachs too queasy or hearts too weak to read criticism of the domestic auto industry, we recommend you find something else to read. Those TTAC folks get kinda brutal.

Just to keep you in suspense, the list of TWAT winners, with excerpts of TTAC's witty criticism, is after the jump.

Voting is open for The Truth About Cars' first ever Ten Worst Automobiles Today (or TWAT) award that we told you about earlier in the month. The initial list of more than 120 reader nominations contained predictable TWAT-eligible autos like GM's ancient minivans, uh, sorry, Crossover Sport Van, a couple of Saturns, several DaimlerChryslers, and a few Korean models. Some vehicles that were nominated but didn't make the list included highly-respected vehicles like the Toyota Camry, Pontiac Solstice, Ford Focus and Honda Fit.

Using a highly refined proprietary system, TTAC staffers trimmed the candidates to 20. Voting for the Ten Worst Automobiles Today is now open until Wednesday. See the 20 TWAT candidates after the jump.

Once upon a time filling a garage with Chip Foose dream cars involved either a check with lots of zeros or help from Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie. Now anyone with a "minimum deposit required" from their bank can park Foose's creations next to their daily driver. Yes, of course we're talking about scale models. Foose Design is currently accepting $28 checks for each of five 9-inch-long models. There's the '67 Mustang "Fastback," the '70 Monte Carlo, the '71 Chevelle, the Impression and the '06 Stallion (shown). The 1/20th scale cars have opening hoods, trunks and doors, chrome wheels shod with real rubber and are pretty close to the actual Foose visions. Note that the '36 Ford "Impression" Roadster does not come with an equally diminutive version of the Detroit Autorama's Ridler award.

Check out the rest of the available models after the jump.

[Source: Foose Design]

NASCAR may be saying goodbye to the Monte Carlo. Although it has been the most successful car in Nextel Cup racing history, GM has apparently gotten approval from NASCAR to replace it. According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, NASCAR has given General Motors permission to drop the Monte Carlo SS, and replace it with the Impala SS. This despite the fact that the Monte Carlo has the most Cup wins of any model in history with 400. Sources told the Observer a Hendrick Motorsports built Impala SS by will be unveiled at the official announcement Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The Impala actually won the Cup way back in 1960 and 1961, but the Monte Carlo took over the NASCAR duties for Chevy after its debut in 1969. The Monte didn't actually race until 1971, but it captured the pole for its first race at the 1971 World 600 at what is now Lowe's Motor Speedway. The new Impala SS will run in 16 Nextel Cup races next year, according to the Observer. It will be used as Chevrolet's version of NASCAR's "car of tomorrow." In races where they aren't using the "car of tomorrow," Chevy teams will still use the Monte Carlo.

[Source: ESPN via GM Inside News]