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Donks, Boxes, Bubbles, and Hi-Risers: A RideLust Pictorial, Dirty South Style

Interestingly enough, I have nothing snarky to add to any of these photos, and largely because I was raised in the South - the Philly Ride Share program horrifies me more than donks do. I’d like to note, however, that back in high school I dated a guy who drove a brand new ‘94 Camaro that I had to practically pole vault to get into, and up until a few hours ago, that’s what I believed a true donk to be. As I was going through these pictures, though, I realized that “monster cars” like Jason’s Camaro have been almost completely replaced by these shiny new chrome jobs, painted colors like bitchass-purple.

Oh, these kids today.

Full gallery after the jump

New 2010 Mustang Pony Badge Revealed, Temporarily Sates Our Wild Mustang Lust

With no production photos to feed our gnawing hunger for the new, 2010 Ford Mustang, we’re gobbling up even the tiniest flashes of skin. Undoubtedly feeling our pain, last Wednesday, the guys at MuscleCarBlog threw us a bone and revealed the new pony badge the redesigned Ford Mustang will be wearing in 2010. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference between the reportedly “beefy” 2010 badge and the sleek ‘09 badge, but given the Mustang’s tradition-rich history, you didn’t really expect the new pony to look like a Budweiser Clydesdale, did you?

View The New Badge After The Jump

If you look closely, the subtle changes to the 2010 pony definitely make for a meaner, faster looking steed. Chief designer for 2010 Ford Mustang, Douglas Gaffka explained, “We wanted to give the Mustang pony a more realistic feel,” apparently to more accurately convey the sentiment of most Mustang drivers: “I slow down to 85mph in school zones.” Gaffka went on to explain that the 2010 Mustang is intended to look more like the wild horse that it is, “It’s more chiseled and more defined.” Although the new pony will feature the same chrome finish as its predecessor, the 2010 Mustang GT will get a more aggressive pony finished in black chrome [as pictured below].

The Chevrolet Concept Mini-Cars: Cutting Fresh Trax

At the 2007 New York Auto Show,GM, apparently in collaboration with Jam Master Jay, introduced three new sub-compact concept cars: the Chevrolet Beat, Groove, and Trax. Chevrolet has asserted that the 3 mini concept cars were “designed to be more stylish than the Aveo”…but the jury is still out.

Although admittedly not so ugly as to inspire gastrointestinal reaction, the mini cars are an acquired taste. The Groove and the Trax are of a very similar design, definitely reminiscent of the ill-fated Scion XA, but the Beat strikes a particularly sour note(ouch, sorry, no pun intended) as it appears to be the Toyota Prius: Honey I Shrunk The Design Plans edition.

Perhaps as a nod to this obvious character trait/flaw, executives at Chevrolet announced that the Beat will see European production by 2009 – but won’t ever set its little rubber feet on American soil.

So what can Uncle Sam expect? By 2011, either the Groove or the Trax – Chevrolet isn’t ready to reveal their final decision yet - but my money is on the Trax.

Of the three, The Chevrolet Trax is the most “rugged” [and I use the term very loosely] and has been described as a micro SUV. A four-door hatchback, the Trax features 1.0L, 3 cylinder engine and, depending on how adventurous the consumer is feeling, will be available in either front-wheel or all-wheel drive. Although it’s boxy, sport design will probably work wonders softening the blow of the die-hard SUV enthusiast forced to downsize, the Trax is not a replacement for a good old-fashioned truck. According to a delusional marketing department, however, Chevy says they’re hoping to push the Trax towards “active urban city dwellers who like to go off-road on weekends.” Off-roading? Where? The unpaved parking lot?

Still, the bigger, stronger Trax seems the only one in the trio that a Chevy, known for its stereotypically American cars, could ever have any success marketing.
The other contender, the Groove, appeared to be ill-suited for the American market after line 1 of the press release. According to Chevy, the Groove’s narrow, slightly-chunky exterior and overall styling is aimed at inspiring a sense of “funkastalgia.” What does this look like, a disco? Pass.

The Top 10 Most Toxic Cars

A report released yesterday by a Michigan-based non-profit environmentalist group, the Ecology Center, ranked the interior air quality of about 450 2008-09 model vehicles. The investigation is part of a two-year old (fledgling) endeavor initiated by the Ecology Center known as the Clean Car Campaign.

The CCC’s primary objective is to raise consumer and manufacturer awareness concerning, beginning with their official findings. Accordingly, the Ecology Center’s report ranks vehicles based on the potential threat they pose to human and environmental health. Ranked on a scale from 0 to 5 (0 being little-to-no threat), a vehicle’s score is tabulated by measuring the amount of toxic chemicals present in its interior. According to the report, the ten most toxic cars in descending order are [with score appearing beside vehicle model]:

Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider GT [4.7]

Suzuki Reno [4.2]

BMW 128i [3.9]

VW Beetle [3.9]

Lincoln Mark LT 4×4 [3.5]

Suzuki Forenza [3.5]

Mazda 6 Sport Value Edition [3.4]

Lincoln Navigator [3.3]

Kia Rondo LX [3.3]

Audi TT Coupe 2.0 [3.3]

When asked by Automotive News about the significance of these findings, Jeff Gearheart, who is spearheading the Clean Car Campaign, said, “Companies are starting to take this seriously.”

I beg your pardon, starting? Shouldn’t interior air quality already have been important? I mean, I know the fuel crisis is what’s on the front burner right now, but I don’t want a car that gets 40 mpg if the flame-retardant material used to upholster the seats is going to give me Black Lung.

[Full article & additional report results available at Automotive News]

The Designer of the Century’s 5 Most Beautiful Cars

Giorgetto Giugiaro is a very important person; probably the most important person that no one’s ever heard of. He’s the car designer of the century, and he’s responsible for some of the most beautiful and influential vehicles of all time.

Here are his 5 most beautiful creations:

1. The Iso Grifo – 1963

There were actually two body styles for the early Iso Grifo, the A3/L (the one pictured above) and the A3/C, and they were both designed by Giugiaro when he was only 25 years old. The A3/C was the sleek competition version that looked almost like a lighter Ford GT40, and the A3/L was the more aggressive street version, with the mean brow and front end that inspired the American muscle cars later on in the decade.

2. Fiat 850 Spyder - 1965

A tiny little car with a tiny little engine. Grossly underpowered compared to the other 4 cars on the list, but still important because of the straight, clean lines and really simple elegance of the car.

Where do you think the Mazda Miata’s styling comes from?

3. DeTomaso Mangusta - 1966

The Mangusta was slightly more accessible than the Vallelunga before it and better quality than the Pantera after it. It’s DeTomaso’s coolest car, and one of my favorite cars of all time. It looks like it’s going to take off and attack an impala and go eat it in a tree or something. It’s a monster car.

4. Maserati Ghibli - 1966

Anything Giugiaro did for Maserati was solid gold, but the Ghibli was the best. This car was the European version of the C4 Corvette, nearly 20 years before that Corvette was designed. Again, Giugiaro was ahead of his time with a beautiful, really clean body style. It looks fast just sitting there.

5. Lotus Esprit - 1972

This is the big one. Giugiaro designed the concept for the Lotus Esprit in 1972 and it went into production in 1976. The Lotus Esprit wasn’t just another angular sports car, this was the first angular sports car. Nothing looked like this before 1976, and everything looks like it after. Any sports car built today, you can still see the influence of the Lotus Esprit. The Ferrari Testarossa, the Lamborghini Countach, the Diablo, basically all modern Lamborghini’s, and just about all of those modern high level sports cars can trace their design linage to the 1976 Lotus Esprit, and so, to Giorgetto Giugiaro.

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