Why yes, that is a Mad Max Interceptor.

Ralf Becker is editor-in-chief of the German auto website Chromjuwelen (“Chrome Jewels,” in English) and a good friend of RideLust. If you’ve never seen his site, you owe it to yourself to give it a look. You’ll find cars of all shapes and sizes, and the occasional pin-up girl (just another reason we love Chromjuwelen), but what you won’t find is the same old boring, regurgitated crap you can get on a hundred other car sites. Like RideLust, Chromjuwelen is written by people who love and understand cars, not by someone whose experience is limited to watching all of the “Fast and Furious” movies a dozen times. The video below explains the philosophy behind Chromjuwelen, and I’d like to think that extends to us at RideLust as well: it doesn’t matter what you consider your own personal “chrome jewel”; what matters is that you stand by your choice.

There are some unbelievable cars in the video as well, including a faithfully recreated Mad Max Interceptor, a mint Chevy II, a few Challengers (new and old), a cherry International Harvester Scout and a few Impala wagons that left me drooling. The video was shot at a street rod event in Hamburg, Germany, which just goes to show that the Germans are as crazy about American iron as we are. Enjoy four muinutes of car guy bliss below.

Chromjuwelen En Route from faust & heisler on Vimeo.

We covered the announcement of the ESFLOW earlier this month. Way back then we only had these computer renders and a lame video to pique our interest in the little runabout. Now we have photos of the real-deal rolling concept vehicle in the flesh . . . er, sheet metal. And it’s right sexy.

These photos, captured backstage during an official Nissan photo shoot, show just how sleek and organic the thing is. It’s like a 370Z fell into a vat of molten adamantium and then rolled in el-wire.

According to Nissan, the ESFLOW is built on an aluminum chasis, sports dual electric motors at the rear wheels, and can hit 60 in less than five seconds. Range? About 150 miles.

At the risk of sounding like a Nissan copywriter, I would say the ESFLOW heralds a new era of sporty, fun electric cars that can defibrillate the dead hearts car enthusiasts who are already mourning the death of the internal combustion engine. If it’s anything like a Z car, it’ll do that and more.

But it’s just a concept, after all. I won’t put too much faith in the car hitting the road in its current form until it appears at dealerships or, of course, Nissan lends me one to test drive for a month or so.

For a full gallery of the car, head on over to All Cars Electric.

Car and Driver magazine has been pumping out high quality automotive material since 1955. They test everything from budget minded automobiles to high-end super cars to bring us some great opinions and test results. Over the past 5 years Car and Driver has started a tradition called the “Lightning Lap Roundup” in which they take the best cars from different price brackets and pit them in a head to head competition to see who comes out on top. Price points range from $0-$30,000, $30k-$60k, $60,000-$120,000, $120k-$240k and $240k and up. From the standpoint of a performance enthusiast this test is gold, as it helps performance minded guys like myself go forth and hopefully make the right decision about which car to purchase next. Personally, I’ve got my eye set on a 2011 Ford Mustang GT. I’ll take a silver one with the Brembo brake package, a 6-speed and 3:73 gears. These video’s are not only well done, but great fun to watch, so click play and enjoy.

For all video’s head on over to CarandDriver.com.

I haven’t seen Jay Leno smile this much since he got the Tonight Show. And the thing that put that smile on his substantial visage? A 65-horsepower three-wheeled commuter vehicle, the Persu tilting trike. The aerospace-inspired contraption is actually the Carver One, a Dutch invention that didn’t quite make it off the ground. Thankfully, the technology has been licensed by Persu, who plans to sell it stateside with a new, sleeker body and a hybrid drivetrain.

Source: Jay Leno’s Garage, Persu

Leno has an absolute blast in the trike and calls it the most fun he’s ever had in a commuter vehicle. He interviews Terry Murphy of Persu, who oddly fails to mention anything about the trike’s background. In fact, he seems to claim its many engineering feats for himself. Odd, that.

The Persu will be a re-bodied Carver One, a trike built by Dutch engineers way back in the turn of the century (early 2000s). It uses an electro-hydrolic system to tilt its body in turns, giving it a fighter jet feel. The two-seater is powered by a turbocharged 660cc Daihatsu kei car power plant that puts out about 65 horsepower.

The Carver One most famously appeared on Top Gear in 2002. After piloting the little pod, Jeremy Clarkson said:

“I have to say, absolutely hand on heart, that I’ve never had so much fun in a car, really and truthfully, and I don’t think I’d ever tire of it.”

Despite the rave reviews, Carver only sold 200 of the vehicles. Trouble is, they planned on selling 300. The shortfall was enough to bankrupt Carver. The engineers behind the Carver One, however, licensed its tech to Persu.

It’s perplexing that Murphy neglected to mention any of this during the interview, despite the clearly visible “Carver” badge on the vehicle’s nose. And the praise from Leno. Still, the trike’s a blast and the revised Persu looks even more like a jet fighter than its Carver One papa. Hopefully Persu can make the little jet work on U.S. soil.

Strangely, Terry Murphy of Persu didn’t

For those of you who have never watch the webisodes of Fast Lane Daily let me just say that you’re missing out. The purpose of FLD is simple, bring the viewers a little insight as to what is going on inside the automotive world in short 8-10 minute bursts. Basically it’s the same thing we do here, except they’re in video format and we sit here and type all day for you guys. Fast Lane Daily is hosted by Derek DeAngelis and truth be told the lad does a pretty good job. For their 1000 episode the boys at FLD sent Derek on a dream trip to the famed Nurburgring. The catch… do the entire trip on $1000, something that thankfully he was able to pull off. So, to the members and cast of Fast Lane Daily – thanks for the 1000 episodes that have helped so many of us get through our day.

Source: FastLandDaily