Dodge Ram Man of Steel Truck: Still Not Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

There have been many commemorative cars made to signify the release of movies, but I have to say that it took me a second to realize that this truck had anything to do with Superman. It’s pretty obvious once you look at the front grille. And I guess because Clark Kent grew up on a farm, it kind of makes sense.

dodge ram superman man of steel

The Dodge Ram Man of Steel Truck is a one-of-a-kind wagon in a dark ceramic gray wrapper. It comes with a high-gloss black roof, anodized red grille accents, forged aluminum, satin-black 17-inch off road wheels because this truck is made to go where there are no roads. The whole thing was inspired by Superman’s suit.

dodge ram superman man of steel back

Pewter leather seats, with custom mesh inserts, and anodized red accents on the inside continue the theme. There are Superman logos on the grille, tailgate, seats, and console. If you want to make this yours, you’ll have to keep an eye out for the upcoming auction later this year or simply customize your own truck.

dodge ram superman man of steel inside

[via Autoblog]

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento: Hypercar Track Day Dreams

Lightweight carbon fiber is a must on any so-called “hypercar,” but what about a car that was named after the element carbon itself? How does it stack up against the rarefied competition? You needn’t worry, because it will probably smoke any other car away, thanks to its awesome power-to-weight ratio.

lamborghini sesto elemento hypercar

The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento’s name simply means “sixth element” in Italian, and it’s a two-door, two-seater, lightweight limitededition hypercar. Naturally, it makes extensive use of carbon fiber. Its chassis, body, drive shaft, and suspension are made out of the durable, lightweight stuff. The whole car weighs an astonishingly light 999kg (2,200 lbs), which is comparable to a subcompact car like the Honda Fit.

lamborghini sesto elemento hypercar top

The car has an all-wheel-drive system, which is mated to a 5.2L V10 engine generating 578 HP. The six-speed, semi-automatic transmission comes with paddle shifters, of course.

lamborghini sesto elemento hypercar back

All of this engineering helps the Sesto Elemento go from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds. Holy speed demons, Batman, better hold onto your shorts!

[via Lamborghini]

Fiat 500s Turned into Refrigerators: Cool Cars, Literally.

European automobile maker Fiat has teamed up with appliance company Smeg to create some awesome retro refrigerators out of old cars. They’re basically finding classic Fiat 500s, cutting off the front ends, gutting the insides, and turning them into the coolest fridges ever.
fiatfridge
It’s sad that all these cars are being chopped up, but the resulting refrigerators look pretty darn cute, so it is hard to be too mad at them. The instrument panel is still inside, though it’s not exactly where you’d expect to find it. You can use it to adjust the temperature.

fiat 500 fridge 2

The “Smeg 500s” are coming soon and will be available in white, red and green. We don’t have any word on pricing, but I’m sure they won’t be cheap. Who wants one?

fiat 500 fridge 3

[via Hypebeast via Gizmodo via Dvice]

80s Pop Culture LEGO Vehicles: Ridin’ Retro

There were a lot of cool cars in 1980s TV shows and movies. We must have been obsessed with cars in that era, because you don’t get these sort of iconic rides anymore. Ralph from Brothers Brick has created some awesome homages to TV and movie vehicles of that era and they look amazing.

lego a team

They look so good, I wish we could buy each as a set and put them together ourselves. These cars even have LEGO characters to go with them. All of our favorites are here: the GMC Vandura from The A-Team, Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, KITT from Knight Rider, and The General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard.

lego ecto 1 ghostbusterslego knight riderlego general lee

Holy Duke boys! Daisy is stacked!

Head on over to Ralph’s Flickr page for more pics of these awesome LEGO rides.

[via Nerd Approved]

Street Legal Bumper Car for Sale: Bumping Not Permitted

Now this is a real low-rider. If you have ever wished you could drive your own street legal bumper car down the road, your dreams could come true. This beauty that you see here is for sale.


bumper car
Just keep in mind that while it is legal to drive this on the road, it is not legal to ram the other cars. This 1984 Dodge Colt does a great impression of a bumper car. It’s on eBay right now for $1,980(USD) with the reserve not yet met. What are you waiting for?

bumper car1
It doesn’t appear that it would function as a bumper car, but hey, you can’t have it all.

[via Jalopnik]

2013 Buick Encore Crossover Wraps Tech, Luxury and Value in a Pleasant Package

I recently had an opportunity to drive Buick’s new upstart crossover SUV, the 2013 Encore, and there’s a single word I’d like to use to describe my experience – pleasant. Yes, this small vehicle is comfortable, luxurious, loaded with modern-day conveniences, and well appointed for the price. It’s not going to win any prizes for speed or being a true “driver’s car”, but as an everyday ride, the Encore fires on all cylinders.

buick encore front 34

Overall I found the exterior design of the Encore to be quite pleasant on the eyes, exuding a sense of luxury, without being too showy. The first thing you’ll notice about the Encore is just how small it is compared to other SUVs. With a wheelbase of just 100.6 inches and a tip-to-tail length of just 168.5 inches, you should have no problem fitting the Encore into even the most cramped parallel parking spaces. There aren’t a lot of direct competitors to the Encore – the closest would be the Nissan Juke (less luxurious, more sporty), and the BMW X1 (more powerful, more expensive).

buick encore 1

Despite its small footprint, the Encore seems spacious on the inside – especially compared to sedans and station wagons. It offers ample seating for four adults, and you can squeeze a fifth passenger in the back seat if you must. Speaking of the back seat, I was able to set comfortably in the back with the front seats about 1/2 way back – and I’m 6-feet-tall. The back seat also offers a flat-folding 60/40 split folding bench so you can carry more items in the back, for a total capacity of up to 48.4 cubic feet. As an added bonus, you can fold the front passenger seat flat for even more storage space. Keep in mind that in exchange for this, you sacrifice the left armrest on the passenger seat, and my co-pilot was quick to point this out.

buick encore trunk

The vehicle is packed with luxury touches you wouldn’t expect in a vehicle that starts at less than $30,000(USD). Features included on the AWD-Premium model I tested include some of the nicest two-tone leather seats I’ve ever seen, a stitched leather steering wheel, and (simulated) woodgrain trim.

buick encore interior leather

It also comes with  6-way adjustable electromechanical seats for both driver and passenger. The premium model also includes a 7-speaker Bose audio system, heated seats, heated mirrors, and a heated steering wheel (pleasant!)

buick encore interior dash 2

Other bells and whistles include rain sensing windshield wipers, dual-zone climate controls with analog dials, power windows, power mirrors, cruise control, tilt/telescopic steering wheel, tire-pressure monitoring, and a variety of high-tech safety systems. These include forward collision alert, a lane departure warning system and a rear backup camera with radar to detect and alert to potential collisions.

encore backup cam

Technology that comes standard includes Bluetooth hands-free calling and media playback, AM/FM/SiriusXM (subscription) radio, as well as Pandora and Stitcher streamed audio integration powered by Buick’s Intellilink. You’ll also get GM’s vaunted OnStar service with 6 months of complimentary service. Navigation is optional, going for an extra $795. All media, climate, navigation and phone information is displayed on an ample 7-inch display that’s been placed much closer to eye level than many of the displays out there.

buick encore tech

One thing to note is that the media, entertainment and climate controls are operated via a number of buttons and analog dials. While some people prefer using touchscreens for such features, I’m a big proponent of tactile controls when driving, so you can interact with them without having to take your eyes off the road. So even if it’s not the most sexy, high-tech approach, I personally agree with this decision.

buick encore center console

I found the drive of the Encore to be quite pleasant, with a quiet passenger compartment and minimal road noise – with some of this benefit potentially coming from the Bose Active Noise Cancellation system. I also found the handling to be tight, but not overly sporty – somewhere smack dab in the middle between the disconnected feeling you’d get from a Lexus SUV, and the sporty handling of a BMW or Infinity SUV. Again, pleasant.

buick encore 34 rear

Under the hood of the Encore is a 1.4-liter turbocharged DOHC 4-cylinder engine, attached to a 6-speed transmission with manual override. This combination provides 138HP and 148 lb. ft. of torque. I found this power to be plentiful in city driving, though I did find it to feel a little strained when driving on the highway. It’s not that it isn’t capable of pulling along the vehicle at highway speeds – it’s just got that typical 4-cylinder whirr sound when accelerating at higher speeds. That said, you have to remember this is the same Ecotec engine in the Chevy Sonic turbo, a car that weighs almost 600 pounds less than the Encore.

On that note, fuel economy wasn’t as good as I had hoped, with city driving delivering a less-than-stellar 15MPG, though I got a much better near-sticker 29MPG on the highway. To be fair on the city mileage, I live in Chicago, which has a higher than normal amount of city stop and start traffic. That said, when I drove it on suburban side streets, I got just about 19MPG. In addition, my figures were measured with typical comfort features such as radio and air conditioning turned on.

buick encore side

So there you have it. If I were in the market for a starter SUV – or if I were looking to downsize from a big truck-like model, the Encore would be on my consideration list. With its perfectly pleasant styling, luxury, tech and safety features, as well as an attractive price point, it’s definitely worth a look.

Prices for the Buick Encore start at just $24,200(USD), but you’ll want to opt for the Premium AWD edition if you can – the gorgeous leather interior and heated accessories are worth it alone. Plus, if you live anywhere where it snows or is hilly, you’ll want to go with the AWD anyhow. As equipped, the fully-loaded Encore I tested had a sticker price of $32,975.


Disclosure: Buick provided the loan of the vehicle for review in this article. However, all reviews are the unbiased views of our editorial staff, and we will only recommend products or services we have used personally, and believe will be good for our readers.

Chrysler rejects NHTSA recall proposal for 2.7 million Jeeps

Pull up a chair, folks, because it’s about to get good. After receiving a letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommending that Chrysler recall some 2.7 million Jeep models, the car maker has come forward to say that they do “not agree with NHTSA’s conclusions,” noting that “the subject vehicles are safe and

Read The Full Story

Extreme Barbie Jeep Racing: Fisher-Price Goes Off-Road

Wow. This is a real sport. Extreme Barbie Jeep Racing is basically off-roading, but without the huge heavily modified and super horsepower 4x4s. Instead you use cheap, fast, toy plastic cars that grown men barely fit in, and remove the speed limiters. Sounds awesome.

extreme barbie jeep racing
From what I can gather from the info available, you drink a bunch of moonshine, slap each other on the back a few times, crank up the country music and then push each other down the hill in one of these kid’s cars.

I guess I would be game for that. Just don’t try to feed me any roadkill or anything. And the minute I hear banjo music, I’m out!

[via Jalopnik]

TARDIS VW Beetle: Fahrverwhügen

This TARDIS VW Beetle is all timey-whimey and bigger on the… outside. Which is pretty normal. I remember when the 3rd Doctor had a car that he used to drive around in and fight monsters with. The next Doctor should have a Beetle like this.


tardis beetle
We need more Timelord driving around crashing into things and less Timelord flying around in a box whining about his name. Remember that crack in time? I bet it started on the windshield of this VW. Probably happened when he let Clara drive.

Impossible girl my arse! Impossible that she passed her driver’s test. Impossible that she didn’t see that Dalek in the middle of the road. It’s impossible for her to get cheap insurance rates – that’s what’s impossible.

[via Pinterest]

1953 Volkswagen Turned into a Ball Aka the Bumblebee Armadillo

Bumblebee, you’re doing it wrong. Or maybe he just got scared and decided to roll into a ball. This vehicular sculpture was actually made by Indonesian artist Ichwan Noor. He created this Volkswagen sphere that is 1.8 meters across out of the parts of actual Volkswagen Beetle.

volkswagen

To put it in more artsy-fartsy terms:

The sculpture’s visual form yields an impression of a sphere – the basis of all forms. The shape of a car is pressed onto the spherical form, producing a dynamic movement, a certain flexibility, but also fragility. It is a concept of “totems” that is embraced/believed by the people of today.

Or maybe it’s just cool because someone crushed a car into a ball and it looks like Bumblebee. Yeah, that’s why I like it.

In related news…

[via Japan Times via Colossal via Neatorama]