Hasta La Gadget!

Chevrolet officially unveiled the 2014 Corvette C7 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan a couple weeks ago, and while we got to see it on the show floor under the pretty lights, it’s just not the same as seeing it out in the public dominating the roads. However, someone ended up spotting one in Arizona and took a few photos for us to enjoy.

We’re not sure why this is, but there’s something about seeing a new product out in the wild that gives you a different perspective on it. It happens with phones and tablets all the time, but here we have a brand-new car that we’re seeing on the road for the very first time, thanks to car blog Jalopnik. Of course, the new car looked great on the show floor in Detroit, but it looked even better under the hot Arizona sun.

Seeing the new 2014 Corvette in open daylight allows you to inspect the car’s curves and overall design in an environment that isn’t biased. We have to say that the 2014 Corvette looks way better on the road than it does on a rotating platform in some convention center — the taillights offer a more aggressive look, and the exhaust pipes scream, “Yeah, I’m a 2014 Corvette. What of it?”

Of course, we’d love to see more of the interior, including that awesome all-digital instrument panel with the different modes, but we can’t complain about seeing the new car out on the road, especially in different colors from what we’ve already seen. The 2014 Corvette is expected to show up at dealerships sometime during the third quarter of this year.

[via Jalopnik]

2014 Corvette shows up in the wild is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Texting while driving is obviously really dangerous, and many states have already banned the use of mobile phones altogether while driving, with more and more states moving closer to that goal. However, with voice controls in smartphones becoming more prevalent, drivers are resorting to hands-free texting in the car, but recent studies show that hands-free texting is just as dangerous as hands-on texting.

California just passed a law that states that drivers are allowed to use mobile phones while driving, as long as its all done by voice. However, several groups, such as the National Safety Council for California, are begging the state to rethink the new law, saying that voice-texting while driving is still unsafe, and may be even just as dangerous as regular texting while in the car.

Researchers and psychologists have demonstrated in the past that people suffer significant impairment when they use a mobile phone while driving, and a study conducted by David Strayer of the University of Utah says that participants talking on a mobile phone had slower reaction times and were involved in more simulated accidents than when they weren’t on their phones — hands-free or not.

The participants’ cognitive impairment levels were around the same as those of participants who got in the simulator after drinking enough alcohol to register a 0.08% blood-alcohol content, which would be considered illegal in all 50 states. While hands-on texting certainly seems more dangerous than hands-free texting, studies have shown that sending a simple voice text led drivers to take their eyes off the road more often than usual, and they reported a higher mental demand during the experiment.

While you may be quick to retort that voice texting and chatting with people sitting in the passenger seat are the same thing, Strayer says that each of the two activities use different parts of the brain. Strayer’s research has shown that the mobile phone distractions in the car isn’t just physical, but also cognitive, meaning that drivers who use mobile phones “create weak memories of objects in the driving environment, suggesting a great deal of attention is drawn away from the road.”

[via The Atlantic Cities]

Hands-free texting while driving is still dangerous, according to studies is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It happened, folks. The original Batmobile from the 1966 Batman film was auctioned off yesterday at the Barrett-Jackson house in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Adam West-driven, George Barris-built movie car sold for a whopping $4.2 million, which almost meets the record for the most-expensive movie car sold at auction, which was the Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger, that sold for $4.6 million in 2010.

The winning bidder, Rick Champagne, ended up paying $4.6 million for the classic car, with a $4.2 million bid, while the remaining $400,000 was in fees. Champagne is a businessman and car collector from the Phoenix area who has been attending Barrett-Jackson auctions for the last 15 years.

George Barris constructed the Batmobile in just 15 days in 1966, and was built for $15,000 using a 1955 Ford Futura concept car as the base model, which was purchased for just $1. The car has been in Barris’ personal car collection ever since, and unlike the Tumbler from the Dark Knight series, the original Batmobile is road legal.

The video above is fairly long, and the auction takes a good 15 minutes to get through, but it’s great to see the enthusiasm from all the folks in the auction room, and Barris himself was there to see the car be auctioned off. The auctioneers were even having a blast (as they always do), but it was great to see one of them hum the movie’s theme song as the price grew higher and higher.

[via Jalopnik]

Original 1966 Batmobile auctions for $4.2 million is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Let’s say you’re flying down the road at inadvisably high speeds, listing to some tunes, and having a grand old time. And then, Mr. Sun just happens to peek out from behind a distant building/mountain/hill and punches you straight in the gat-dang eyes. You’re blinded by the light. Whatchu gonna do? More »

Fiat and Mazda have officially inked the deal which will refettle the MX-5 (aka the Miata) as Alfa Romeo’s next open-top sports car, expected to hit showrooms in 2015. The agreement [pdf link] was first mooted back in May 2012, and will see the as-yet-unnamed Alfa Romeo droptop eventually go on sale globally; meanwhile, Mazda will also offer its own version of the car, the next-gen MX-5.

Although the two cars “will be based on the architecture” of Mazda’s new Miata model, there will be some key differences in what ends up on sale. Beyond the differentiated styling – unconfirmed, though we’re hoping Alfa Romeo doesn’t stray too far from the delectable 2010 2uettottanta concept by Pininfarina, shown here, although we wouldn’t argue with a convertible version of last year’s Disco Volante concept either – each marque will slot in their choice of engine.

Both versions will be produced at Mazda’s Hiroshima plant in Japan, and feature rear-wheel drive and two seats. For the Japanese firm, it’s a chance to squeeze as much value as possible out of its new design and manufacturing investment, vital if the compact droptop is to be financially viable.

For Fiat, meanwhile, Alfa Romeo has been struggling for some time, and the deal means producing “a modern interpretation of the classic Alfa Romeo roadster” needn’t be quite so impractical. Initial plans to reintroduce the brand to the US market later this year have been delayed, however, with the Alfa Romeo 4C now not expected to debut in North America until sometime in 2014.

Fiat and Mazda ink new Alfa Romeo/Miata roadster deal for 2015 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.