Damon Lowney
Danica Patrick not a big fan of Jay Mohr's humor at NASCAR banquet
Friday was the night of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series annual Champion's Awards banquet, and the host, comedian Jay Mohr, cracked off some jokes about Danica Patrick that visibly rubbed her (and her fellow NASCAR-driver boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) the wrong way.
Toyota vows to fix poor Camry crash test result that irked Consumer Reports
Many Toyota vehicles haven't been performing well in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) small overlap frontal crash test, and the Camry is one of them. The 2012 and 2013 Camry both received "Poor" ratings, IIHS' lowest rating, in the test, which spurred Consumer Report
Tesla not bought with Bitcoin currency after all?
The story we posted about a dealership accepting Bitcoins as payment for a Tesla Model S is reportedly only partially true. Lamborghini Newport Beach instead used BitPay to exchange the electronic currency for US dollars before completing the sale, according to "Squawk on the Street" on CNBC.
Lewis Hamilton never paid his father for being his manager
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton once offered to give his father and former manager, Anthony, a cash gift of up to $4 million after the father-son pair split in 2010. But in a court hearing, he said he never was paid by his son nor accepted cash gifts from him, Damon Lowney
Production Lexus NX small CUV headed for Geneva
Just five months ago, our spy photographers caught what appeared to be a mule for the forthcoming Lexus NX crossover with the body of a CT 200h for disguise. Then the LF-NX Concept CUV debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show
Hyundai tops Toyota in annual CarMD Vehicle Health Index
CarMD has released its third annual Vehicle Health Index, which for the 2013 tracked the frequency and cost of repairs for "check engine" problems of 119-million vehicles built between the 2003 and 2013 model years. For the first two years of the index, Toyota ranked at the top of the list, but this year's results see Hyundai moved to number one, pushin
Tesla Model S purchased with Bitcoin from Lamborghini dealer
Maybe you've heard of Bitcoin by now, but if you haven't, here's what you need to know: it's a decentralized, electronic currency contained in the world's first completely open financial network (for a better understanding, visit this informative Washington Post article). Bitcoin can be used to buy all sorts of products through the growing list of vendor
World's Strongest Man champion pulls a dozen Nissan Note hatchbacks to set record
On December 1, Zydrunas Savickas, a five-time World's Strongest Man champion, pulled 12 Nissan Notes (the equivalent to our Versa Note) weighing 28,530 pounds over 16.4 feet in 32.9 seconds. The feat, performed in Lithuania at the end of the country's Car of the Year test camp, was enough to secure him the Guinness world record for "Most Cars Pulled By One Man."
Ex-Ford and Carbon Motors exec working on robot security guards
Back in 2003, former Ford executive William Santana Li and former police officer Stacey Dean founded Carbon Motors, a company that designed a purpose-built diesel police car that recently Damon Lowney
Woman ticketed for driving with Google Glass to fight charge
A San Diego woman who was ticketed in October by the California Highway Patrol for wearing Google Glass while driving pleaded not guilty and will fight the citation in court, Yahoo reports. The woman, Cecilia Abadie, was pulled over for driving 80 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone.
Lohan drafting lawsuit against GTA V's Rockstar Games? [w/video]
The Grand Theft Auto videogame series is loved and loathed by many, and, as it turns out, Lindsay Lohan can be added to the latter group - unless GTA's publisher, Rockstar Games, cuts her a check. More specifically, TMZ reports, the troubled actress and her lawyers are drafting a lawsuit against the publi
Subaru revisits 1998 Impreza 22B STI
It was 1998 when Subaru made some crucial changes to its World Rally Championship Impreza, such as increasing the displacement of the turbocharged flat-four-cylinder engine from 2.0 to 2.2 liters and fitting wide fender flares. Subaru won the WRC manufacturer championship with the car that year, and it also was the year of the automaker's 40th anniversary. To celebrate the milestone, the company
Ohio Senate strips anti-Tesla amendment from bill
Tesla's strategy to sell cars, such as the Model S, through manufacturer-owned retail stores has rubbed traditional franchise auto dealerships the wrong way. The battle between Tesla and the Ohio Auto Dealers Association heated up quickly over the past week because a proposed amendment to an Ohio road-maintenance worker safety bill (Senate Bill 137) threatened to ban Tesla stores in Ohio. The auto
Tesla says Germany concludes Model S fire probe without further action
It was the perfect storm: three Model S fires in six weeks were enough for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to start an investigation into the two US fires in mid-November, but as it turns out, the German government was paying attention too. According to Tesla, Germany's
Is Honda working on airbags for smartphones?
Smartphones are expensive yet delicate - a single impact on a hard surface can shatter their touchscreens, often damaging them beyond repair. Fitting a case offers only so much protection, but what about an airbag? Honda has explored the concept with the airbag-equipped Case N and even made a video about it. But alas, it isn't real.
BMW and Mini shuffle NA management, McDowell to retire
BMW and Mini recently shuffled top personnel in their design departments, and now BMW of North America will reorganize its management to improve customer relations. Peter Miles (pictured), currently the executive vice president of operations, will take a newly created position, vice president of sales channel development and c
GM Canada under fire for Cruze fuel economy issues
The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze that owner Farah Mocquais bought for commuting to work hasn't achieved the fuel economy ratings that the Canadian arm of General Motors advertised, CBC News reports, and the couple is accusing GM Canada of misleading them. Instead of bu
Yamaha planning sports car follow up to Gordon Murray MOTIV.e?
How Yamaha plans to make a sport scar with the Gordon Murray-designed MOTIV.e platform escapes us, but the company has confirmed that it's exploring such a vehicle, Autocar reports. But since there's a lot we don't know about the MOT
Gender-based car color study has men seeing red, women seeing silver
Yes, red is the most popular vehicle color for men, and women like silver more than any other color, according to a study by iSeeCars. It's hard to make perfect sense of the study, which explores gender and its relation to vehicle color preference, but it does open a window into the minds of male and female car shoppers.
Infiniti Q50 steer-by-wire system took 10 years to develop [w/video]
Infiniti's Direct Adaptive Steering (DAS) is quite a novelty - the system employs no physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels under normal circumstances and instead relies on a computer, clutch and steering-angle actuator to guide vehicles down the road with input from the driver.