Now, before ya’ll get all twitchy on me because your favorite car commercial isn’t on this list, listen up! THIS ISN’T YOUR LIST – it’s my list. HOWEVER – if you know of some funny or awesome stuff out there then let us know and we’ll post it up. Hell, we can just make one big bulldog database of the best automotive commercials ever made… I’ll even put it together, just make sure you get me your recommendations.
Citroen C4 – TRANSFORM!!
Ok fine, it’s a bit hokey, but I grew up in the 1980’s and I dig these guys. Plus how often do you get to see a car really let loose and boogie down?
It has been a few years now since the Ford GT arrived, lived its short life in production and then passed through the gates into supercar Valhalla. But as awesome as the GT was, it may not have even been the best performance model Ford had in its arsenal. The car that helped reinvigorated the automaker’s performance future, and paralleled the GT’s production, was actually one that was never built: the Ford Shelby GR-1.
So what do we mean by “coolest” trim badges? Well, we figure there are two criteria for a badge being cool – either it looks really cool aesthetically, or it sends a message to the unwitting fool behind you that you’re capable of smoking him off the line quicker than Cheech and Chong can get through an ounce of Thai Stick. Click through to see what we consider the 10 worthiest badges of all time to be. And if you manage to stick all of these badges together on some poor car (only if you have permission!), send us a picture and I’ll make my boss send you a prize.
It’s very hard to find original car designs anymore, especially attractive ones. Like women, there are just certain features in cars that are timelessly beautiful, even after accounting for individual tastes. So after a while, it’s not surprising that exotic cars begin to look pretty similar. But when we look at Krasnov Igor’s Marussia concept, we find an unusually high number of familiar design cues. There are so many, in fact, that it can be sort of a game trying to name them all.
For instance, the front end has the overall smoothness and the headlights of an F430. But the gaping front intakes evoke the Murcielago. In the rear, this mid-engine car has a Ford GT sort of rear end, except the taillights have been super-sized into jet thrusters a la Batmobile. The forward leaning cockpit does have a Zonda feel to it. Overall, though, the flat polygonal surfaces inspire more Reventon than anything else.
Check out the gallery and tell us if we missed anything.
In this installment of “Like Father, Like Son,” we’re taking a look at a prestigious American racing family, whose exploits brought fame and glory to Ford and vexed Enzo Ferrari to no end … the Ford GT40 and its spiritual successor, the Ford GT. Will the GT make its father proud? Make the jump to find out.
Ferrari 330 P3, otherwise known as the definition of hot.
Just in time for the upcoming Le Mans race this weekend, it’s a book all about the coolest automotive rivalry of all time, fought at over 200 MPH on the Mulsanne Straight. It’s Enzo Ferrari versus Henry Ford II, and money is no object. The goal is worldwide bragging rights, and the dueling weapons are two of the most iconic racecars of all time: the Ford GT40 and the Ferrari 330 P3. The book is “Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.” Make the jump for an excerpt of the book, from the author’s website.
The exterior modifications might be minimal, but according to Ford, the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 is a whole different beast under the hood. Ditching the single knock engine calibration system sensor for dual job, Ford’s SVT team was able to give the 2010 GT500’s supercharged 5.4L DOHC V8 a significant performance upgrade, boosting engine output to 540 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. “Where you really feel the new power and torque is mid-range,” explained Kerry Baldori, chief functional engineer for Ford’s Special Vehicles Team. “The new Shelby GT500 produces more torque than the outgoing model at 3,000 rpm and never looks back.”
To enhance performance without sacrificing handling, Baldori and his team of SVT experts also took a torque wrench to the GT500’s 6-speed manual gearbox, replacing the twin-disk clutch with bigger, 250 mm copper and fiberglass disks. According to Baldori, this relatively minor change accounts for major improvements on the track. With clutch engagement noticeably smoother, the 2010 Shelby GT500 is now able to tear out of the starting gate with graceful ease and accelerate to 0-60mph time of 4.3s (0-100 in 9.4 seconds). Impressively enough, the improvements to its track-worthiness did not adversely affect its fuel economy, and the 2010 Shelby GT500 actually received a 2mpg in fuel efficiency for 2010. A negligible difference, yet a difference just the same, Baldori summarized the appeal of the new racehorse, explaining, “These are all the attributes that customers want in an on-the-edge performance car, but we’ve also delivered a comfortable daily driver as well.”
Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) has finally whisked the cover off their newest work of art, the 2010 Ford Shelby GT500, and, as we expected, it’s a beaut’. Undeniably one of the baddest snakes yet, the Shelby GT500 received quite a performance boost for 2010 and now features under the hood a supercharged intercooled 5.4L DOHC V8 capable of churning out a thundering 540 horsepower and 510 foot-pounds of torque.
Paying homage to the original king Cobras from the ’60’s, Ford attempted (successfully) to integrate classic muscle car styling with advanced aerodynamic modifications befitting a beast of its power. Seeking to enhance to performance of the GT500’s new supercharged V8, Ford equipped the 2010 Shelby with features like a hood extractor to remove heat from the engine and a “Gurney Flap” spoiler to tune rear downforce (additions which, unlike the vents pressed onto the side of V6 ‘Stang the 20-something bottle-blonde down the street from you drives, are fully functional).
In stark contrast to the two major appendages and one liver Ford requires for the privilege of driving a Mustang GT500 off the lot, the high-performance 2010 Camaro SS will be available for a mere $30,995. Claiming a lap time of 8:20 ’round The Ring (not too shabby considering the Corvette ZR1’s 7:26.4 time), the Camaro SS comes with a 6.2L V8 which, mated with an automatic transmission, produces 400-horsepower and 395 lb-ft. Should you swap the automatic for a manual, performance will shoot from 400-hp to 422-hp, and from 395 lb-ft to 408 lb-ft. Regardless of the gearbox, however, the SS’s V8 is still expected to average 23 mpg on the highway, providing the ideal fuel efficiency for cruising along the New Jersey Turnpike, listening to your big-haired, orange-skinned girlfriend snap her gum seductively.
Looking to maintain the hype over the redesigned 2010 Ford Mustang set to debut in November at the LA auto show, Ford has released a set of teaser photos of the new bodystyle . Unfortunelty, the photos are so obscure that for all we can tell, it could just as well be a 2006 Mustang GT and we’d never know the difference. Gotta love a gangsta, though.
