Earlier today, several sources were reporting that F1 teams across Europe were getting a large number of job applications from Honda F1 personnel, leading to rumors that Honda was getting ready to sell off it’s Fomula 1 team. Well those rumors are true.
Apparently, the manufacturer is giving the team until March to find a buyer, at which point they’ll just pull the plug and withdraw funding from the team. A team spokesperson said Honda will make an official statement on all this tomorrow. This is very, very big news; read on to hear why:
Surreal pop artist and advertising illustrator, Guy Peellaert, is probably best known for his album covers in the 70s, like the bizarre cover of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, but he was a fairly prolific painter as well. Still, most people are only aware of the album covers and his illustrated comics. The best known of his comics probably being the nearly naked, motorcycle-riding, female version of Mad-Max living in a lunatic future, Pravda la Survireuse. She’s so well-loved that Peellaert made this animated short about her in 2001:
Pravda la Survireuse animation - NSFW-ish
Unfortunately, Peellaert died about a week ago, on November 21st 2008. Here’s a collection of his comic art and paintings for your viewing pleasure (some NSFW):
One of the main problems GM has is its large number of brands, and the fact that they’ve spread themselves so thin across those brands. They argue that there’s value in those nameplates, since customers want a wide selection. The thing is, they’re half the size they were in their prime, and they have more brands. Here’s a run down of the brands GM owns: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, and Vauxhall. They need to lighten up their load if they want to survive.
Remember the story of Aron Ralston? He was the climber who was out in the wilderness when a boulder fell on his arm and pinned him there. He was stuck, couldn’t get loose, so he did what needed to be done, he cut off his own arm. That kind of action takes giant brass balls, but it saved his life in a case where, otherwise, he most likely would have died. It’s tough to knowingly cut off a part of yourself, but in life or death situations, it needs to be done. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the 9 Detroit Automotive Brands We’d Miss The Least, to help the execs in Detroit make the tough choices. Yes, these are drastic moves, but the fact is, this is crunch time, life or death time. Now Detroit just needs to grow a set the size of Aron Ralston. Check it out:
I have a thing for technical illustrations, especially automotive cutaways. There’s something about the high level of detail and precision and intricacy. I used to buy any automotive magazines and technical manuals I could find just to look at the diagrams and cut-away drawings of the cars. And for the past 40+ years, the king of those technical drawings has been Yoshihiro Inomoto.
The Icon Warthog is the kind of bike that should do battle with KITT from Knight Rider in some fictional spin-off commercial world. It’s a custom Kawasaki ZX-10R with, on top of the A-10 Gatling gun replica in the front, has the engine tuned up to 188rwhp, an 800-watt MTX audio system, a set of hilarious jet-engine exhaust pipes, and an LCD screen for watching movies while engaging in high-speed combat. Icon even made a music video with the bike.
The Warthog was built to help advertise their new Domain II Warthog helmet. But would I ride it? Eh, I’d rather have a ZX-10R without the Warthog paintjob and unusable Gatling gun; and I probably wouldn’t get much use out of the sound system, even at 800-watts, unless I’m sitting in a parking lot. Still, it’s fun. It’s like a full-scale toy model built for shits and giggles. I like it. Check out the pictures and the music video and see for yourself:
Ferrari has released a full-screen virtual tour of the inside of the new, limited-edition Scuderia Spider 16M. You can look around the interior of the car as if you were sitting right in the drivers seat, and there are various info boxes that detail certain aspects of the car.
Supposedly the new Scuderia Spider 16M is faster around the Fiorano circuit than any previous open-top Ferrari, plus there is a limited run of only 499 cars to be made. Ferrari launched this supercar as part of the celebration of it’s 16th F1 Constructors’ title, so it has a special plaque on its rear grille with a fancy “16″. Super exclusive, so head over to FerrariWorld to experience the virtual tour, since it’s probably the closest you’ll ever come to one of these triumphs of automotive perfection.
In most times of economic slowdown, the market for luxury cars stays healthier than the rest of the mass-market, but this year it’s different. Sales in the U.S. luxury-car market fell 30% as a whole last month compared to a year earlier. That’s just about in line with the 31.9% decline for the overall market, and researchers don’t expect it to get any better.
Many automakers rely on the large profit margin of luxury brands to help them stay afloat when sales in mass-market cars decline and they decrease those margins to ultra-thin levels. With the luxury market dropping as well, they’re finding it hard to create the deals and sales consumers expect in the mass-market.
The new Cooper and Cooper S Convertables will make their official debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. MINI says they’ve made “incremental” improvements, and apparently they’re too small to see. The one very visible change is the price, at $24,550, the new Cooper Convertable is $2,600 more than the 2009 model. The Cooper S was bumped up $2,050 to $27,450.
So, very few changes to the car, but major changes to the price. It makes sense though, the market wants this car right now, and they sold like hotcakes at the previous price; supply and demand, up goes the new price. Check out the pictures and the press release for all the other details.
Ok Ridelusters, here’s a chance to flex your Photoshop skills, or maybe your MS Paint skills, whatever. Make up a rad little Ridelust.com banner, like the one above, or the ones below, and send it in. The best one wins the everlasting glory of being The Winner of the Ridelust Design Contest. That’s the kind of stuff you put on your resume.
