The EarthRoamer XV-JP … for when you’ve just got to get away. Too bad it’s a camper/RV, but then again its got Tru-Lok front & rear electronic remote locking differentials, Bilstein gas shocks, Dana 44 heavy-duty solid front and rear axles and it made it through the Rubicon Trail. Seats/sleeps 2. $110,000+

…where [...]

Lamborghini LP640 - LuxCars, Samedi 19 juillet 2008

Hummer H1 Alpha, an SUV’s SUV…”Like Nothing Else”.
A Note from HUMMER: Let the Speculating Begin - GM FastLane Blog, June 6, 2008

Honda will start selling its FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered zero-emissions car in the United States and Japan over the next few years. According to Honda, the name derives from the car’s fuel-cell engine and its ‘clear solution to the challenges of the future’.
Specs are here - includes top speed of 160 km/h, range of 270 miles [...]

Toyoda Gosei is in the process of developing pedestrian-protecting exterior airbags that deploy when onboard radar and image-recogition cameras detect a pending impact.
…alternatively, the pedestrians could wear the airbags instead.

Cars with hood and grill airbags for pedestrian protection! - FarEast Gizmos, June 3, 2008

The World Car of the Year (WCOTY) program just awarded their Overall Car of the Year for 2008 to the Mazda2 (aka Mazda Demio) at the 2008 New York International Auto Show.
Excuses, uh reasons, given include “Consumers will be drawn to the new Mazda compact because of its very appealing looks and high levels of [...]

Some rag known as the Daily Telegraph asked their readers to nominate the best-looking cars of all time, and this is what they came up with…

1 - Jaguar E-type
2 - Citroën DS
3 - Jaguar XK120/140/150
4 - Ferrari Dino 206/246 GT
5 - Lamborghini Miura
:
100 - Volvo P1800
…mostly vintage, but not a bad compilation. In reading [...]

Italdesign Giugiaro unveiled the Quaranta, a new concept hybrid electric car at the 2008 Geneva International Motor Show.
To arrive at the Quaranta, I-G started with the 1968 Bizzarrini Manta, stretched it to a continuous body line, raked the windshield to 70 degrees and added 250W solar panels to the roof. Performance is 0–100 km/h [...]

The Wall Street Journal documents the problems Japanese car manufacturers have with selling into their own market. The Age of the Automobile at least in Japan seems to be over, as less than 3 million automobiles were sold in 2007, a decline of 31% from the peak in 1990.
Seems that young people there deem cars [...]

Well, Rinspeed has unveiled their sQuba, the world’s first submersible car. Works on land, on water and under water.
It’s just like the Lotus Esprit that was used in the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me”, only different…the Rinspeed sQuba is electric, the passengers get wet and must don scuba gear.
Rinspeed’s Zero-Emission World Debut [...]