RideLust

The Shinari Concept gets tail-happy in Mazda's latest ad.

Mazda has always had a reputation as an enthusiast brand that builds cars for those of us who like to drive. Consider the RX-7, which continued to push the development of the rotary engine at a time when other manufacturers shelved the technology. It was Mazda that re-introduced the concept of a fun, affordable roadster, and their Miata is now in its 21st year of production. The 323 GTX was the first affordable rally car for the street, and even their current Mazdaspeed 3 remains one of the best performance bargains on the planet. If you’re Mazda, and you’re struggling to boost market share in the United States, how can you effectively distill the company’s rich history into an ad that will get buyers into showrooms? With a mix of old, new and concept vehicles, and a reminder that, “if it’s not worth driving, it’s not worth building,” that’s how. Video below. Read More…

The #70 Speedsource RX-8. Image: Speedsource

If you’ve ever raced cars, you understand this: in the pits, or united by a common cause, most racing teams will go to extraordinary measures to help one another out. When the green flag drops, it’s all about being the first guy across the finish line; until then, it’s about supporting the sport, the community or some other worthy cause. In this case it’s the relief effort for Japan, which has been back-burnered in the news by the conflict in Libya and the pending shutdown of the United States government. At this weekend’s Grand-Am race at Barber Motorsports Park, several Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development teams will be sporting Red Cross graphics on their cars, encouraging fans to text a $10 donation to REDCROSS at 90999. The Mazda Foundation USA has already contributed $150,000 to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund, and has encouraged their dealers to contribute as well. Mazda Motors in Japan has donated 30 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross Society’s relief efforts. Read More…

The Miata is undoubtedly the most fun on four wheels. And now the guys at Jota Sport have distilled the car’s bubbly personality down to a thick, syrupy shot of racetrack rotgut that can knock the most seasoned drivers on their asses. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the MX-5 GT, aka, the Mini-Hulk. Read More…

Shelton is the guy with the grin.

Scott Shelton is a lot like you and I: he’s got a passion for driving and a love of motorsports. Like most of us, he harbors a lifelong ambition to be a professional racer; unlike most of us, Shelton never gave up the dream. After nearly twenty years of club racing, in which Shelton racked up plenty of trophies and a ton of experience, but little in the way of sponsorship or opportunity, he was able to fulfill his dream. As the winner of the 2010 Mazda Shootout, the two time NASA champion now has a full time ride in the 2011 Playboy MX-5 Cup series, courtesy of the Mazdaspeed driver development ladder system. Read More…

Image: Mazda

We first told you about Mazda’s Minagi concept in January; back then, it was nothing more than a design rendering, but Mazda’s been working overtime to roll out a Minagi concept vehicle in time for this week’s Geneva Auto Show. Designed to be a replacement for Mazda’s aging (and Ford-sourced) Trubute SUV, the Minagi is the first Mazda vehicle penned under their new Kodo design language. Meant to personify the “Soul of Motion”, the Kodo styling is a lot less goofy than their outgoing design, and that should definitely help bring customers back into showrooms. Designed as an “urban SUV”, the Minagi blends the handling that Mazda is known for with their new Skyactiv engine and transmission technology, for maximum fuel economy. Read More…

Yeah, that looks fun...

No one could accuse the Swedish of having an abundance of sanity: after all, they eat lutefisk (rotting fish processed with lye) voluntarily drink aquavit (what the rest of the world calls paint thinner) and build cars with the ignition switch in the center console. Just in case that’s not enough to convince you, they also think that ice racing in convertibles, in temperatures of twenty four degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) sounds like fun; to me, that sounds like a sure recipe for frostbite and the surgical loss of fingers, toes and other body parts. Read More…

I’m commonly asked which cars women find the least attractive for men to drive. Honestly, this is a tough one, as the truth is that there are many cars out there that no man should ever step in to. To narrow them down I decided to choose the top five cars of the decade that make me cringe. My first thought was the PT Cruiser from Chrysler. I’m still trying to figure out the reason as to why that car was ever made, as it’s one of the most disappointing automobiles I’ve ever seen. Nothing about it makes me want to touch it. Think of it like that person you have to sit next to with bad body oder in a crowded room that you’re repulsed by. For just under 20k I’m surprised that Chrysler even had the audacity to regularly rotate them onto their homepage before they went out of production last year. There is no way on this green earth that a woman will find a man more attractive regardless of how much he modifies it. A quick note to PT Cruiser owners; please stand AWAY from your car if you want to pick up on a girl and certainly don’t bother to valet.
Read More…

Ford Mustang in Hamburg, Germany.  Photo courtesy of Jan Riggert.

It’s February and we’re in the heart of Winter 2011.  For car enthusiasts, it’s very easy to dismiss this season as a time of dreary dormancy.  When the grey skies and the bleak landscapes make even the cherished weekend drive unwelcome.  When the air is too agonizingly frigid to endure with the roof tucked away and the windows down.  When you long to pitch your keys after frantically scraping your windshield in the quiet hours before dawn and your thoughts incessantly turn to the salt feasting on your vehicle.  Sitting behind the wheel, your breath visible, you find that even your car starts begrudgingly, chugging to life with the reluctance of a teenager waking on a weekend morning.  In winter, the sleek, silvery hides of the cars we’ve fondly lusted over in the warmer months are locked away, sheltered from the elements, and the bronzed, bikinied goddesses of the tuner meets are in hibernation.  Winter is a terrible time for car enthusiasts.

Or is it?

The following are some of my favorite winter photos from around the Web.  If you’re bemoaning the winter blues, take a look at these and get out and drive.  Winter is no reason to stay inside. Read More…

The 2011 MX-5 Special Edition. Image: Mazda USA

Mazda missed launching a special edition to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the MX-5 in 2010. To make up for it, Mazda is launching a new special edition to celebrate the building of the 900,000th MX-5, which took place last month. If you were expecting a special edition on par with the 10th Anniversary Edition, released in 2000, you’ll likely be disappointed. The 2011 MX-5 Miata Special Edition is “special” in paint and interior trim only, and the cars come in your choice of Dolphin Gray Mica or Sparkling Black Mica with Bright Finish wheels. All Special Edition cars will be built as Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT) versions, since the hard top now outsells the soft top by a margin of four to one. Read More…

What is it about cars doing burnouts in slow motion that makes us get all tingly inside? Maybe it’s just the process by which the camera captures the action or the fact that in slow motion we now have the ability to see what is really going on. Either way car enthusiast videos like this one are some of the coolest out there and we can’t get enough of them. Shot by a company called DK Video Productions in Koropi, Greece, these shots were captured by utilizing a TREX 700N remote controlled helicopter with an HCS mount and a Canon 550d camera with 18-55 lens. Filming with remote controlled helicopters is something that in recent years has really been coming into its own. A properly set-up machine would run around $2,500-$3,000, with the camera being about $900. That’s not too bad considering renting out a real helicopter with a pilot for a day would run you exponentially more. What’s really amazing are the professional looking shots that were obtained, which is something that I wouldn’t think possible from a remote controlled unit. Click through to watch the video.
Read More…