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Just in case you hadn’t already figured it out, the Chrysler Group has no plans to offer the latest Dodge Charger with Alfa’s turbocharged four-pot nor will Gawker restore Jalopnik’s classic blog look.
Other automotive-related April Fool’s Day jokes found around the net include: Autoblog’s Honda Accord Crossdressed Cabriolet; Pickuptruck’s 2012 Cadillac DRW Platinum Heavy-Duty Pickup; BMW’s costly M3 Pickup Truck (the joke here is that it won’t enter production because the ute is real); and Jalopnik’s announcement that AOL’s new empress, Arianna Huffington, bought the site and merged it with Autoblog to create Autoblognik.
Garrett Brown, the man behind Hollywood's Steadicam, is looking to bring a little upgrade to manufacturing. Brown has partnered with Eric Golden's LA-based Equipois to help release the "zeroG", a new type of mechanical arm that could reduce manufacturers' health care costs by up to $13 billion annually.
Spawned from a conversation with a Honda engineer who liked the idea of a Steadicam mechanism on the factory floor, the zeroG is crafted from high-grade aluminum and steel and helps minimize overexertion by using simple physics. Each arm is fitted with spring that counterbalances the weight of heavy tools, which in turn makes the tools "lighter" and easier to use.
Maneuverability has also been taken into account; the zeroG's gimbal mechanism means tools can be used to their full capacity even when being held by the arm.
Equipois's Eric Golden explains it like this: "The actions cancel each other out...When the arm holding the tool moves, the position of the end of the spring changes to compensate for the movement. That's 20 pounds of lift on a 20-pound tool, no matter where it's positioned...You can have something that weighs 25 pounds and move it with your fingertips, as if you're in space." At a cost of $10,000 for the larger arm ($5,000 for the smaller unit), Equipois has found serious interest from serious clients like Boeing, Ford, and the United States Navy.
Allison Stephens, an assembly ergonomics specialist working for the Blue Oval, says, "Because it uses no electricity -- just springs -- it's actually much cheaper than our current method of tool support...We selected jobs that had difficulties because of heavy tools, and operators who had medical visits because of that. We've seen some great results -- no injuries when the arms are used. We are going to incorporate it into our engineering strategy."
With the economy slowly getting back on its feet and a number of positive responses, Equipois hopes more people will come to see the benefits and invest in the zeroG. If its current client base is any indication, this may just be the next low-tech big thing in the world of manufacturing.
Now here’s something you definitely don’t see every day; a camper van put through its paces at the Nurburgring race track in Germany. Mind you, we’re not talking about a VW Bus Camper Van here, but a full-size, six-wheeler recreational vehicle… Follow the break to see it in action for yourself.
We're used to hugely-expensive Ferrari models, but a book that cost more than an actual sports car from Maranello is a first. It's called “The Official Ferrari Opus” and it retails for $275,000 in its most expensive edition. Publisher Opus Media Group calls it “the most exclusive book in the world.” It might be, at least as far as the price is concerned.
The 852-page Ferrari bible weighs 82 pounds and measures 19.6 square inches. Printed on heavy-duty paper, it contains 2,000 photos and 200,000 words covering every Ferrari road car and race car ever produced, as well as every professional driver to race for the company since 1947.
The book is offered in various editions, ranging in price from $4,100 to $275,000. The “Enzo” edition for instance is limited to 400 copies, with each being “personally signed by all living Ferrari world champions on an individually numbered, silver-foiled signature sheet.” Each book comes in a carbon-fiber case and is priced at $37,500.
More affordable is the $7,500 “Cavallino Rampante” edition, with each of the 500 copies personally signed by “Ferrari greats, past and present.” Finally, the most affordable edition is the “Classic”, limited at 4,100 copies and priced at $4,100. For this kind of cash however, buyers will only receive the signatures of current Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
As for the $275,000 edition, it is called “Enzo Diamante” because of the 30 diamonds that adorn the Prancing Horse logo sitting on the cover. Only 400 copies of this book will be available, but not more than one in each country. Which is kind of odd, as there are 193 internationally-recognized sovereign states in the world. Anyway, buyers of this edition will be entered into a drawing for a replica of the Formula 1 car driven by Michael Schumacher. The copy No. 1 will be auctioned, with proceeds going to charities. Scroll down to see an official presentation of the Official Ferrari Opus.
If you’re a car buff, chances are you’ve heard about the next chapter in the Fast and Furious franchise that’s scheduled for release in theaters towards the end of April (see the trailer here). Being that the movie series is popular among car enthusiasts, the Chrysler Group decided to team up with Universal Pictures for a multi-tiered partnership.
Aside from providing 2010 and 2011 model year Dodge Charger vehicles used in numerous chase scenes throughout the Fast Five movie, the Detroit automaker is also sponsoring a Dodge/Fast Five advertisement that will air for the first time on Saturday, April 2 during the Final Four basketball tournaments. However, you can get a sneak peak right after the jump.
“The Dodge brand is proud to partner with Universal Pictures on Fast Five. We enjoyed being a part of the production process and working with the cast and crew, and it clearly comes through in the film,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand, Chrysler Group LLC.
“The chase scenes in this installment of Fast Five are over-the-top and adrenaline-filled, and Dodge fans will be thrilled by the performance of the Dodge Charger.”
The new ad, which you can check out below, stars an Elizabethan-era mother in the 2011 Charger lecturing her daughter about ruining the family name by carrying on in a relationship with Cornelius, a son of a blacksmith’s apprentice, driving Vin Diesel’s 1970s classic Charger.
We have some good news for all of you automotive-website addicts. Gawker Media, the parent company of Jalopnik, believes it’s time to admit failure and do us all a favor by reverting its flagship car site back to its classic blog look after losing a large percentage of its readers, and to a lesser extent, its advertisers. The announcement was made by Gawker CEO Nick Denton earlier in the morning and will come into effect before midnight.
For the time being, the much anticipated template rollback will be limited to Jalopnik, with Gawker’s other sites, including Jezbel and Gizmodo as well as the upcoming blogs of Murilee Martin, Junkyardo, and Matt Hardigree’s Steve McWeiner, to keep the redesigned layout – at least until further notice. Carscoop attempted to contact head honcho Ray Wert for a statement, but he was not available at the time due to a photo shoot.
Argentina's Industry Ministry signed an agreement with Porsche importer Grupo Pulenta according to which, the company will have to offset all car imports with equivalent exports of wine and olives.
The deal complies with local regulations that allow companies to import cars for sale only if they export goods of the same value. Grupo Pulenta, which aims to import 100 vehicles worth around $8 million this year, will therefore have to export wine and olive products to 18 countries, including the U.S. and neighboring Brazil.
The agreement comes two weeks after Volkswagen signed a deal with the Argentine government to increase exports from VW's Cordoba plant by 77 percent in 2011, so that the deficit between the company's exports and imports will drop around 70 percent.
Automobile sales in Argentina rose 43 percent in 2010 to a record 698,299 units, according to the country's Automobile Manufacturers Association. Out of these, 435,767 units were imported. Exports from Argentina's car industry reached 447,953 units last year.
We don’t know the identity of the man hiding behind the white racing helmet at the ‘Top Gear Festival 2011’, but The Stig sure knows how to work the steering wheel. Of course, being that the black London Taxi Cab you see in the video after the jump is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, does help a bit. You see, what looks on the outside like a normal black London taxi cab, is in fact a re-skinned Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 crafted by the folks over at SHP Engineering.
The company started with a Lancer EVO 9 with just 1,500 miles on the odo and stripped it down to the bare bones. The body shell of a London Taxi Cab was then dropped on top creating the most innocent EVO we have ever seen to date. Follow the jump to watch it in some awe-inspiring donut action.
Audi is joining a long line of car manufacturers that have reached out to bicycle specialists to create their own range of two wheelers. Being that the brand with the four rings is renowned for the use of aluminum in its cars, you’d expect Audi to employ the lightweight metal on its bicycle series. But that’s not the case as the Ingolstadt automaker teamed up with Renovo Design, a firm famous for its wooden frame bikes.
The all-new Duo bicycle from Audi sports a monocoque frame made of hardwood. According to the automaker, wood offers “the smoothest ride of any bike frame material thanks to its superior ability to absorb shock and vibration”. Audi says that the weight per cubic inch of wood is about one-fourth the weight of aluminum, meaning that the duo is lighter than most bicycle frames, adding that it also offers "equal or superior stiffness, durability, and toughness to an aluminum frame".
Other highlights of the Audi Duo bicycle series include a belt drive, aluminum and carbon fiber components, disk brakes and LED lighting, as well as woods selected to match the look of Audi vehicle interiors.
The series comprises of three bikes, the Duo City, Duo Sport and Duo Road, all of which are hand-made at Renovo’s Portland, Ore., studio. As you'd expect, none come in cheap as pricing for the three models (including shipping & handling) are set at $6,530, $7,350 and $7,460 respectively.
