By davewashere The Tesla Roadster is no longer the only electric supercar in town. A British company has designed a new electric sports car called the Lightning GT. It features 4 electric engines drawing power from 4 powerful batteries that combine to make 700 horsepower. It'll reach 60 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds with a top speed of around 130 miles per hour, which is faster than the Tesla Roadster.
Did I mention that this is a zero carbon emissions sports car that will take you over 220 miles on a single 10 minute charge? Yeah, I think this car is going to be hot, and may even start a electric sports car arms race among the major manufacturers.
Early this morning, the hot rod world lost one of its masters, the legendary Boyd Coddington. Boyd has always been a well-known figure in the custom hot rod world, designing custom cars for rich and famous car nuts like ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Alice Cooper, but he became famous to the rest of the world just a few years ago with his reality tv show "American Hot Rod". He was seen as the sometimes hot-headed owner of the custom car company he started decades ago. He has also starred in commercials that have aired nationwide, including one during the Super Bowl.
A true car movie should put a significant focus on cars, whether they be past, present, or future models. Not all of the following movies are about cars, but they all depict the thrill of driving, whether it be a race, chase, or just cruising.
10. The Gumball Rally An illegal cross-country road race featuring some of the fastest production cars of the day (the film was released in 1976). It spawned sequels and rip-offs, most of which featured hammy acting and cheesy storylines, but the original is still a road-racing masterpiece.
9. Death Race 2000 Set in a dystopian future world with some oddball car designs, Death Race 2000 depicts cars being used as weapons. Points are awarded for running down people, and these cars are customized for just that task.
8. Gone in 60 Seconds While the modern Gone in Sixty Seconds remake with Nicolas Cage was a showcase for, well, Nicolas Cage, the original Gone in 60 Seconds was a true car movie, made by a true car nut. H.B. Halicki (aka "The Car Crash King") made this masterpiece with almost no money and a lot of help from his friends. No one in this movie is a professional actor, and it shows. That's not really the point, because the star of this film is the cars. When they ran out story, they just filled the final 40 minutes with one of the most elaborate car chases ever.
7. Grand Prix A stylistic masterpiece, Grand Prix often feels like a documentary as it shows the golden age of Grand Prix racing. James Garner stars in this Formula 1 epic.
6. Vanishing Point A drug addict named Speed tries to evade police across hundreds of miles as locals cheer him on. This cult classic could have easily been a 90 minute commercial for the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T.
5. Bullitt More of a cop film than a car movie, Steve McQueen pushes a 1968 Ford Mustang to the limit against a 1968 Dodge Charger in what many people consider the top car chase scene of all-time.
4. Smokey and the Bandit Like some other car movies, Smokey and the Bandit would spawn sequels that were pure trash, but the original remains a fantastic showcase of a heroic car. The 1977 Pontiac Trans Am became an instant hit after this movie reached theaters, although I doubt many could handle as well as the one Burt Reynolds drove... or fly over broken bridges.
3. Dazed and Confused Perhaps the only movie on the list that doesn't seem to care about cars, but still manages to feature them in a beautiful light. All the hit cars of the early-to-mid 1970's were here, from the Chevelle SS to the Trans AM SD455. 70's boozin' & cruisin is epitomized in this nostalgia trip.
2. American Graffiti Where were you in '62? That's what the press for American Graffiti was asking in 1973. Although it was filmed just a decade after the year in which the movie was set, it seemed like a different century. The early 60's was the official cruising era, when gas prices were low and the main strips seemed to go on forever. People drove without a need to go anywhere, and "hanging out" was done at 15 miles per hour. The race between John Milner's Deuce Coupe and Bob Falfa's 1955 Chevy is the peak of automotive cinema.
1. Two-Lane Blacktop Although Dennis Wilson (from The Beach Boys, also Brian's brother) and James Taylor's names were on the poster, the star of this movie was the 1955 Chevy Bel-Air. The car was such a hit that it would be used again a few year's later as Bob Falfa's car in American Graffiti (although it received a fresh paint job). Two-Lane Blacktop is an existential car movie featuring both the art and philosophy of automobilia. The plot involves a race to Washington D.C., and there are several drag race scenes, but it's not a race movie. It's more like a filmed version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, except with cars.
Top 10 Most Expensive Cars 2007 - 2008 Video Edition
It's time for another car video list. Last time, I did the worst cars ever, so I think I'll choose a slightly less-dreary topic this time: the most expensive cars in the world. These are the cars that most of us will never be able to afford, but thanks to the power of YouTube we can at least watch videos of the rich bastards who do get to enjoy them.
10. Maybach 57 S Retail price: $367,000 I don't care what anyone says, these Maybachs look like large Hyundais to me. They look smooth and luxurious, but nothing about them says "I need to make up for my own insecurities by being seen driving a car worth more than your house."
9. Maybach 62 Retail price: $385,250 Once again, this is a Hyundai mating with a Mercedes. I'm really not sure what the appeal of these cars is, other than uber-luxury features on the interior.
8. Porsche Carrera GT Retail price: $440,000 Now we're talking. The only modern Porsche supercar, the Carrera GT has a top speed of nearly 210 mph.
7. Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Retail price: $457,250 Despite the fact that this was a car preferred by the likes of Paris Hilton, I like the SLR McLaren. It's a little quicker than the Carrera GT, but with a slightly lower top speed. The stance on this car is second to none, perhaps one of the best-looking cars ever built.
6. Koenigsegg CCX Retail price: $545,568 Some may not like the curved box design of the CCX, but this isn't a car made to be seen. The CCX is built for pure speed. It can do 250 miles per hour, which will help you get away from your angry wife when she finds out you blew half a million dollars on a car.
5. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo Retail price: $555,000 It's the 4th fastest car in the world, and one of the best-looking to boot. The Saleen S7 is quick and fast, and it's cool enough to be featured in movies like Bruce Almighty.
4. LeBlanc Mirabeau Retail price: $645,084 You don't hear much about this car, likely because it lacks any luxury features. This is a pure race car, although it is street legal.
3. SSC Ultimate Aero Retail price $654,400 This is the fastest street legal car in the world. It reaches a top speed above 257 miles per hour. It's quick too, with a 0 to 60 time of 2.7 seconds. Only about 25 of them have been produced so far, but each one can beat the Bugatti Veyron.
2. Pagani Zonda C12 F Retail price: $667,321 It's not the fastest car, but it's not slow either. It can reach speeds above 215 miles per hour. What I really like about the Pagani Zonda is the design. From the quad exhaust that is positioned in a circle in the middle of the rear to the lights, mesh screens, and carbon fiber touches, this is a car that looks like it took a millennium to engineer.
1. Bugatti Veyron Retail price: $1,192,057 The Bugatti Veyron is a monster of a supercar. It combines design, speed, and luxury in a car that many consider to be the best ever. With a top speed above 253 miles per hour, it's one of the fastest street legal cars, and it comes loaded with performance features to help it corner and stop quickly.
Top 8 Worst Cars Ever - Now With Craptastic Videos!
8. Chevrolet Chevette The name is a combination of Chevrolet and Corvette. Get it? Neither do I. I can see where it has the build quality of a late-70's/early-80's Chevrolet, but what does this car have to do with a Corvette? Oh right, it breaks down every 50 miles. In the following commercial, the Chevette will bounce through the mud and drive under a Ford Escort. After filming this ad, the stunt driver threw himself under a Ford Escort to avoid the embarrassment of seeing himself driving a Chevette on TV every day.
7. AMC Pacer What is it about the owners of the AMC Pacer wagon that sets them apart? They are all mongoloids, but their parents/owners taught them at a very early age to tell everyone they are "smart" (this word must be said quickly with a perky voice). The Pacer came from the factory pre-rusted. Evangelicals used to buy their sons Pacers because it would ensure no pre-marital hanky-panky despite the ample room in the back.
6. Chevrolet Citation My family once owned one of these cars. What more can be said about this car. Besides the rust problem and the engine so weak it couldn't be measured in horsepower (it was rated at 3 midgets, which it turns out was exactly what was in there, running around little exercise wheels), the Citation was terribly unsafe. I tragically lost 4 older siblings in various Citation fender-benders, although my parents have since claimed I just imagined them. Did I mention that you could literally grab the paint and tear it off? That's because the exterior panels were made out of recycled cardboard.
5. Ford Pinto The Pinto was advertised as "a little care-free car." That's good and all, but you probably should care when someone rams your bumper from behind, because it means you've got about 10 seconds of life left. As you can see from the second video below, the gas tank would explode in a rather impressive inferno. What you can't see is the poorly-engineered door lock system trapping any passengers inside this death box. The cute little pony from the first video below was destroyed during filming when it rubbed a little too close to the rear bumper. The film crew ate well that day.
4. Volkswagen Thing The name Volkswagen literally translates into English as "people's car." I don't know German, but I'm pretty sure the Volkswagen Thing means "ugly people's car" in English. It was VW's attempt to make an offroad utility vehicle while using no more than $5 worth of materials. They succeeded, but the car was a hideous beast. Many owners claimed that the car became self-aware of its ugliness and would drive itself around at night, feeding on puppies.
3. Yugo Let me tell you a story from my childhood involving a Yugo. I was in the middle of my street, riding my Fisher-Price foot-powered plastic car, when I was struck by a drunk driver in a Yugo. That drunk idiot was tragically crushed to death by my red and yellow toy car. The Yugo was slow, but that was only to allow buyers the chance to enjoy the 63 miles these cars lasted before breaking down for the final time.
2. AMC Gremlin The Gremlin was the piece-of-crap car for people who couldn't afford the larger piece-of-crap Pacer. They openly bragged in commercials that the Gremlin was better than the Ford Pinto. That's like me saying I've got a sexier body than Mickey Rooney. The Gremlin would make a comeback in the 1980's as a ugly little race of creatures that were somehow far more beautiful than they were in their car form.
1. Chevrolet Vega I hate to keep picking on Chevy, but they made some awful cars back in the 1970's. Once again, I'm not a linguist, but I've been told "vega" means "does not go" in Spanish. Chevy rushed these cars to showrooms - literally. These cars were falling apart the moment they were completed at the factory. Some of them rusted and split in half while running, creating a dangerous situation for drivers and a hilarious situation for anyone watching from a distance. If they survived the first year, most drivers would resort to "Flintstoning" their Vega, as the floorboards would have completely fallen out by that time. I could not find any old Vega ads, so the featured video is actually a Vega that was re-engineered by some redneck with a 4th grade education... and it's 100x better than the original product from Chevrolet's team of college-educated idiots. Note that even at 100x better than the original, it's still being towed.
Very First Corvette ZR1 Sells For A Cool $1,000,000
The Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona ended last week, and there weren't any blockbuster sellers as in years past. One interesting sale of note is the first Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The benefits from this sale went to charity, and the winning bidder paid $1 million for the privilege to be the very first ZR1 owner.
Dave Ressler is the proud new owners of this car, and the rich bastard also happens to own the third 1953 Corvette roadster to roll off the line - the oldest surviving Corvette, among the 28 Corvettes that currently make up his collection. What's the matter Dave, can't afford one from every year?
There is speculation that Audi is about to introduce a V12 engine for their R8 supercar. The diesel engine can do 0 - 62 mph in 4.2 seconds while at the same time achieving an average 28 miles per gallon. The huge engine will probably limit luggage space, which will make it harder for your wife to come along on those long road trips, so you win on both ends.
