Nelson Ireson, Senior Editor
Articles
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Ariel's Atom open-bodied, tube-frame roadster is well known as the face-stretching fun-maker beloved of track-addicts everywhere. Now, the car can be for more than just fun: it can be for real,...
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BMW Concept CS Designer Returns To BMW From Mercedes-BenzThe designer behind the forward-looking 2007 Concept CS and the current BMW 7-Series, Karim Habib, is returning to BMW after leaving last year to work at Mercedes-Benz. He replaces the previous head of exterior design at BMW, Anders Warming. Habib's first tenure at BMW saw him working closely with...
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2011 Chevy Volt Auction Hits $225K; Ferrari Would Be Cheaper, GreenerWhoa, wait, what? A $225,000 2011 Chevrolet Volt? It's true: the first production example of the extended-range EV was up for auction to benefit charity, and it managed to go for the princely sum at the close of bidding today. While that's a nice gesture, we'd rather have a Ferrari. That's a mighty...
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Imported From Detroit: New Chrysler, Dodge Slogans Leaked?With Sergio Marchionne and Fiat now running the show, Chrysler and its sub-brands are rapidly working to reinvent their images. The latest in the litany of leaked plans? New slogans for Dodge and Chrysler. At least, the slogans purport to be the real deal. They're certainly just humorous enough to...
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Video: New Stratos Unveiled In Classic Alitalia LiveryThere are many, many things we love about the New Stratos, but its new look--or, should we say, its retro look--is now chief among them, tying its spiritual ancestry into its modern-day capability with the unforgettable white-red-green-yellow of Alitalia. The same basic scheme that adorned the...
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NASCAR Signs American Ethanol, Goes E15 For 2011Motorsports and ecology aren't exactly hand-in-hand concepts. Getting the most speed out of a car usually involves pumping a lot of fuel through it--just to end up back where it started. To improve the green image of racing, many series are taking steps to use greener fuels--and now NASCAR is among...
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The classic statement of the price of road racing: "How do you make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large one." The truth of that statement is what has given it such legs, but Mazda and...
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Video: 2011 Audi A7 Made Of Kaleidoscopic Jellyfish, Unicorns?We're quite familiar with the 2011 Audi A7 by now, having seen the car in official guise back in the summer, and at most every show on the circuit since. The latest ad spot for the A7 casts the four-door coupe in a wholly different light, however. In what can only be described as a trippy 62...
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Elvis Presley's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600 Sells For $187,390Bonhams auction house this weekend sold The King's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600 at Mercedes-Benz World near Weybridge, Surrey, U.K. for a price of $187,390 including the buyer's premium. Elvis Presley's former super cruiser will now reside in Germany--a homecoming, of sorts. Presley owned the car, a...
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Garrison Keillor-Autographed 2010 MINI Cooper S Up For SaleIf you're a fan of literature and graffiti, this 2010 MINI Cooper S may be just what you're looking for. Signed by Garrison Keillor and 17 other Penguin authors, the car offers a unique chance to marry the love of fiction with the love of driving--in real life. Not surprisingly, the seller of the...
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2011 Detroit Auto Show Preview: 2012 Honda Civic ConceptThe ramp-up for the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, or North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) is well underway, with Honda today releasing a preview sketch of an upcoming Civic concept for the show. The ninth-generation Civic, slated for production in 2011 as a 2012 model, will be based on the...
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Back On Track: Cadillac CTS-V Returns To RacingThe 2011 season promises to be exciting throughout the world of motorsports, with the FIA doing away with the ban on team orders in F1, a new formula for World Rally Championship cars, and now, Cadillac's re-entry into road racing with an SCCA World Challenge CTS-V Coupe. The new CTS-V Coupe racer...
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The 2011 BMW 1-Series M Coupe is still fresh from its reveal late last week, but the facts and figures on its performance are beginning to take familiar form with the release of rumored Nurburgring...
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Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl 'Tweet Race': Win A 2012 C-Class CoupeAre you a Twitter junkie? Love the Super Bowl? Want a new luxury coupe? Mercedes-Benz has your answer with their new "Tweet Race to the Big Game" announced today on Twitter and Facebook. Four teams of two will run from New York, L.A., Chicago, and Tampa to Dallas, Texas at the wheel of a Mercedes...
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Spy Shots: 2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5-SeriesPlugging an existing hybrid system into an existing car isn't quite as easy as plugging into an outlet, but the team at BMW is making it look that way, with the recently-unveiled BMW ActiveHybrid 5 already moving from concept car to testing prototype. As these spy photos show, the car is not...
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Diego Dolls Aren't Carpool Legal, DummyWeird and wacky news isn't solely the province of Florida or California, though they certainly have significant market share. Seattle, Washington made a bid for front-runner status today, with one commuter strapping his kid's Diego doll into the passenger seat to fool carpool lane restrictions on a...
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Audi Unveils New Hardtop R18 Le Mans RacerAudi's dominance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its attendant series has been reduced through rules and new competition since its initial foray into diesel power, but it still cuts a dramatic figure in any endurance race it enters, including a surprise win at this year's race after the failure of...
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Jaguar Working On Crossover SUV? Why?!A Jaguar crossover/SUV? Isn't that what Land Rover is for? Apparently not, according to a new report out today. Instead, Jaguar may go its own way into the crossover market and "stop being a saloon-based company," according to Jag's global brand director Adrian Hallmark. Hallmark, recently poached...
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The grid has been all a-bluster with talk of the coming engine changes for 2013 for months now, but today, it's official: the 18,000 rpm, 2.4-liter V-8 is now on its deathbed in Formula 1, its...
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2011 BMW 1-Series M Coupe PreviewThe 2011 BMW 1-Series M Coupe has been BMW's worst-kept secret of the past year, with official "spy" photos and even a video preview of the car in its entirety spoiling some of the fun of today's official unveiling. The fun of the car, however, is sure to remain intact. Packing a now-familiar...
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2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302S UnveiledJust as we promised you a little over a week ago, Ford Racing has developed its track-only hardcore 2012 Mustang BOSS 302S. The official details released today read like a solid-axle track addict's dream. Based on the same basic set of features as the 2012 Mustang BOSS 302 production car, the 302S...
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Dodge Viper Still Dead, Viper Cup Carries On In 2011The Dodge Viper may be due for a return in 2012, but it won't be the same Viper we grew to know, love, and fear. For that, you'll either have to find someone willing to let go of their car, or find a way to get a seat in the still-cranking Dodge Viper Cup Series, which today announced it will...
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Breaking: 2012 Volkswagen Golf R Confirmed For U.S.The rumors have proved true: the 2012 Volkswagen Golf R will be making its way to America in late 2011 or early 2012, according to Volkwagen of America CEO Johnathan Browning at an International Motor Press Association meeting today. So what can we expect? According to Browning, the U.S. version of...
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Ford Racing Announces 2012 Cobra Jet MustangSo you wanna go drag racing, and you're a die-hard Blue Oval fan? It'll be hard to beat the factory-built Ford Racing 2012 Cobra Jet Mustang (2010 model pictured), though you'll have to be quick to get one of the 50 examples planned for construction. Revealed today at the Performance Racing...
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