Kurt Ernst, Contributor
Articles
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When you pad into the kitchen first thing in the morning, only to find out you’re low on milk, do you silently glow with an inner joy as you reach for the car keys? Are you plotting every inch... -
Infiniti Tries To Find Its Way To JapanLuxury brand Infiniti is doing all it can to have a global presence. Well-established in the United States, Infiniti also has a relatively strong customer base in Europe and China. Brazil and Mexico now have Infiniti dealerships in-country, too, thanks to a growing middle class population. Oddly...
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Lap Daytona’s Road Course In A Ferrari 458 Challenge Car: VideoIf all you know about the Daytona International Speedway comes from watching NASCAR races, you’re probably unaware that the track also contains a challenging infield road course for sports car competition. Like the tri-oval, Daytona’s road course is both fast and demanding, with Ferrari...
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New Bright Rolls Out A 2014 Corvette Stingray For The Rest Of UsWe’ll admit to being fans of the new 2014 Corvette Stingray, though we’ve yet to get seat time to see how it shapes up against its predecessor. On paper, anyway, even the least-expensive 2014 Corvette sounds like it will deliver significantly more performance than the car it replaces...
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BMW Z4 Featured In Upcoming ‘Warm Bodies’ Zombie Love StoryThe zombie meme is now officially played out. What more-or-less began as a George A. Romero gore-fest in 1973’s Night of the Living Dead has been turned into countless novels and graphic novels, a successful television series and too many movies to count (including the summer-2013 presumed...
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Aston Martin’s Centenary Celebrations ContinueTo mark its first 100 years, Aston Martin has already introduced new Centenary Edition models and flown a Vanquish coupe via helicopter to the top of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. Now it’s announced the largest-ever vintage racing event for Aston Martin cars, to be held at England’s...
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If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Grid 2 to see if you’re as fast as Chris Harris around Brands Hatch, here’s some good news: Codemasters has announced that the game...
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True Time Capsule 1954 Corvette Fails To Sell At AuctionIn 1959, grocery mogul Richard Sampson gave builders of his latest store, in Brunswick, Maine, a rather unconventional request: they were to entomb a perfectly good, low mileage 1954 Corvette in its own room, lit by two incandescent bulbs, with only a single square window from which to view the...
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To Make Up Lost Luxury Market Sales, Lincoln Expedites MKZ’s LaunchIn January, luxury car sales in the United States were up, and generally by a large margin over prior year. Cadillac delivered 47 percent more cars than it did in 2012, while Porsche delivered a 32 percent gain. Lexus was up by nearly 27 percent, followed by Acura (13.2 percent), Mercedes-Benz...
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The Last Lexus LFA Shipped To America Gets DeliveredIn December, Lexus built its final LFA, serial number 500, roughly two years after production of the no-expenses-spared supercar began. The final car, a white Nürburgring Edition, was destined for a museum, but the penultimate Lexus LFA assembled, serial number 499, was shipped to a Unites...
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Ford (Reportedly) Confirms The Focus RS For 2015Getting a straight answer out of Ford on the next Focus RS is likely getting a concise and clearly-worded response from a politician: no matter how you phrase the question, the reply will be in the form of a non-answer. While that may frustrate potential customers and Focus RS fans, we understand...
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Chrysler Scripts More Memorable Super Bowl Ads: VideoFor Super Bowl XLV, in 2011, Chrysler hired Eminem to deliver a loud and clear message: the American auto industry, most noticeably Chrysler and its affiliated companies, were back. Perhaps even more relevant was the theme that Detroit, America’s motor city, was also on an upswing. Last year...
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For three consecutive years, from 1998 through 2000, Dodge Vipers took both first and second place in the GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s fitting, then, that the new SRT Viper GTS-R... -
Daimler Buys Into China's BAICThe relationship between Mercedes’ parent Daimler and China’s Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) isn’t a new one. Beijing Benz Automotive Company (BBAC) has been building Mercedes-Benz passenger cars since 2006, while another Beijing subsidiary began producing Auman-branded Mercedes...
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Mustangs Across America Announces 50th Anniversary Drive DatesFord’s beloved pony car, the Mustang, turns 50 years old in April of 2014. To honor the event, Mustangs Across America is planning a seven-day trip that will take participants from Los Angeles, California to Charlotte, North Carolina, arriving in time for the Mustang Club of America’s...
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Bruce McLaren Narrates The Story of McLaren: VideoOn June 2, 1970, Bruce McLaren was killed in a crash at England’s Goodwood circuit, testing his new M8D Can-Am race car. The car’s rear bodywork came loose at speed, creating a spin-inducing loss of downforce that even Bruce McLaren couldn’t correct. His M8D left the track and...
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Formula One Returns To The Nürburgring In 2013When Germany’s storied Nürburgring circuit declared bankruptcy last July, the fate of the German Grand Prix at the track seemed anything but certain. With the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season just six weeks away, BBC Sport is reporting that a deal to host the race has been struck...
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Could A123 Systems' Buyer Wanxiang Be Fisker's Next Investor?Earlier this week, we reported that Chinese auto parts giant Wanxiang had received approval from the U.S. government to purchase the non-military business of bankrupt lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems. That’s good news for luxury plug-in hybrid automaker Fisker, as A123 Systems was the...
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When race and road car constructor McLaren rolled out its new MP4-28 Formula One car for the 2013 season, it also took the opportunity to promote its newest wares, the MP4-12C Spider and the upcoming... -
2015 Audi S3 Cabriolet Spy ShotsJust last week we brought you spy shots of the new Audi A3 sedan, undergoing on-the-road testing in its vinyl camouflage wrap. This week, our spy photographer has captured images of its faster, open-air brother, the upcoming Audi S3 Cabriolet. While the car looks startlingly similar to the A3...
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Audi Publishes Pricing And Fuel Economy Data For the 2014 A8 L TDIAudi debuted the turbodiesel version of its flagship A8 sedan at last year’s Los Angeles Auto Show. At the time, we were told that pricing and fuel economy details were pending, and now the four-ring brand has published the data ahead of the car’s launch. The diesel-powered luxury sedan...
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Lincoln Readies Its 'Steer The Script' Super Bowl Ad: VideoWhen Lincoln revealed it would use comedian Jimmy Fallon to write the script for its upcoming Super Bowl ad, based on Twitter submissions about epic road trips from fans, we’ll admit that our first thought was “this isn’t going to end well.” Lincoln, after all, has been...
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Fast And The Furious 6 Trailer To Debut During Super BowlSuper Bowl ads aren’t just pitching beer, chips and cars this year. Movie studios have figured out that the best way to get fans’ eyes on trailers for upcoming movies is to show trailers during the Super Bowl. One movie preview that will air during the big game is the spot for the...
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Hot Wheels In Real Life: A Chevy V-8 Powered BMW Isetta DragsterWe’ve seen a lot of crazy automotive creations over the years, some of which worked and some of which didn’t. We’re no fans of the Smart ForTwo, but cram a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine in a Smart and we’ll arm-wrestle you for the keys to the SmartBusa. We’ve long...
Kurt Ernst