US Marines Ghostriding an Armed Vehicle in... Iraq!

In case you’re not familiar with the term, ghostriding is when a driver and passengers exit a vehicle while it’s rolling uncommanded and start dancing beside it or even on it. But while that might sound just plain dumb (yes, dangerous too) if you do it on your home street in Alabama, we can’t find words to describe the actions of “Jabo”, “Gorgeous Glen” and “Twinkie” (or was that Gumbo, Jumbo and Dumbo…) who ghostrided a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected army vehicle in Iraq! Well, at least they had fun without getting hurt but we could have done without the arse show-off in the end.

Chinese Man Cages His Car to Stop Thieves!

Mr Zhang, of Jilin City, has built an iron cage for his VW Jetta in an effort to stop thieves from stealing parts from his car and demanding later on ransom money to give them back. The Chinese man supports that his car's electronic engine management system was stolen twice and each time he found a note clipped under the wiper, with phone and bank-account numbers. In order to get the part back, Mr Zhang had to wire 500 yuan or about $70 to specific bank-account!

Via: Ananova

By Far The Best Cab Driver Name We’ve Seen…

If you've ever traveled to any large cities like New York and taken a cab, you will have probably have had a chuckle or two with some taxi driver's weird name or surname. However, in this case, we're not just talking about weird... Honestly; if we ever happened to get into this guys cab, we seriously doubt that we'd be able to restrain ourselves from bursting into laughter. Just in case your eye-sight isn’t what it should be, here’s what the cab driver’s card says: “You are traveling in comfort with Chew Kok” LOL! Many thanks to our friend Tim for sending us this hilarious picture link!

Via: webshots

Aussies Rule: Bridal Car Confiscated For Drag Racing!

What a way to kick off your new life; a newlywed Australian couple was stopped by an unmarked police car a little after they left the reception as their chauffeur was drag racing a P-plate driver at 130km/h (80 mph) in a 60km/h (37 mph) speed zone. John Tauranga, 21, and his bride Laina, 20, were left marooned along NSW's Great Western Highway at about 9pm on Saturday as the police arrested the 42 year-old chauffeur and confiscated his hire car and licence! Of course they also did the same to the 17-year-old Erskine Park teenager who was driving the other car.

The bride’s mother, Bernadine McCull, accidentally saw her daughter and her husband stranded on the highway as she was driving past to go home. "We were on our way home from the reception and I saw a woman in a long bridal gown walking up the road, holding up her dress," Mrs McCully said yesterday. "I said, 'My goodness, there must be a lot of weddings on today' and then I realised, that's our daughter. We thought they had been in an accident," she said. "The police said, 'We've just confiscated your limousine – it was driving dangerously'."

Via: Insideline , Source: News

Exclusive: VW Unveils Touareg Cabriolet!

Our Spanish buddies at Motorpasion surprised us this morning with the revelation of the first official picture of the new Touareg Cabriolet. There aren’t many details out yet on the drop-top crossover but Volkswagen Spain has opened up a microsite at “touargecabrio.com”. Oh and by the way, December 28 is the Day of the Holly Innocents in Mexico and Spain or in plain English, the Spanish “April Fools Day”…

Via: Motorpasion , Link: VW

Retro: Funny Mazda MX-3 V6 commercial

Wondering why Mazda employed these little fellows for the Dutch commercial of the MX-3 Coupe? Well, the top version of the MX-3 Coupe was fitted with a 1.8-liter V6 engine. At the time, this was the smallest production engine with that configuration. The four-seater MX-3 was produced from 1991 to 1998.

Via: Winding Road

Girl’s Best Friend: The Phone Car

This is it, the perfect Xmas gift for any of my former girlfriends (and probably for any of my future ones too...): the “Phone Car”! Created by business owner Howard Davis to promote his telephone company, the Phone Car is built on a on a 1975 Volkswagen Beetle frame and as you might have already guessed, it uses a telephone ring tone as its horn. -More images after the jump

Borat Style Street Racing In Romania

Forget about STIs vs EVOs. This street racing video is all about Romanian turbocharged Ladas with more exhaust pipes than three Ferraris put together and supped up Dacias –not the Logan mind you. BTW; are those Romanian babes hot or what… -Video after the jump

Lion On The Loose Chases Cars In Ohio!

Now here’s one pussycat that you wouldn’t like seeing out of your drivers window. It sounds hysterical, but we’re sure that the drivers in Central Ohio that watched a 500-pound lion chase cars on a major highway didn’t find it at all funny. “He just ran after them like a dog chasing cars, he'd run 10 to 15 feet and come back,” a driver said.

The lion’s owner, Terry Brumfield told police officers that his oversized pet named Lambert had broken out of its pen in nearby Piketon, about 90 miles east of Cincinnati. The Ohio State Highway Patrol and sheriff responded but the owner was able to get the animal back into the cage without anyone getting hurt.

Via: nbc4i

Video: Pedal Powered ’86 Buick Regal

A Canadian friend of ours, Sophie, sent us this video link featuring a… pedal-powered 1986 Buick Regal. Sounds like a colleague prank but in fact, the “Flinstonian” vehicle is the work of Canadian artist, Michel de Broin. The Buick, which the artist calls “Share Propulsion Car” was stripped of any unnecessary parts including the engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system , in order to reduce the weight of the vehicle whilst preserving its appearance. -Continued after the jump

The Canadian artist then outfitted the ‘86 Regal with 4 independent pedal and gear mechanisms that make it possible for passengers to form the self-propulsion group. If you live near Toronto, Canada, the “Share Propulsion Car” will be exhibited at the at Mercer Union gallery until December 8, 2007.

Thanks for the tip Sophie!

Ukrainian Hand Built Woody Car

As if building a wooden car wasn’t weird enough, Vasily Lazarenko from Chernovtsy, Ukraine, decide to craft half the body of his hand built vehicle with a retro look and the other half with a more modern styling. The Ukrainian woody car is built on a chassis and engine from a 1981 Opel model with a 100 HP engine. Although the car isn’t registered (wonder why…), Lazarenko admits that he has taken the car out for the occasional spin. All I have to say is that I’m never touching a bottle of Vodka for the rest of my life…. -More pics after the jump

Via: Autoblog.nl , Source: cnet

Hyundai Santa... Flop In Bucharest, Romania

We don’t know how they say “f@$#k!!!” in Romania, but we’re pretty sure that the guy driving this Hyundai Santa Fe that fell in a big pit hole near the centre of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, had plenty of sexual orientated adjectives in store for authorities. As our friend Mircea pointed out, the best part of the incident is the billboard next to the Santa Fe that reads "Renault - the only automaker in the world with eight models that have achieved a 5-star-rating in Euro NCAP”. -More images after the jump

Via: Automarket.ro

Guy Shoots Himself After Attempting To Change Tire!

Have you ever tried to change a tire just to find that one bloody wheel-nut stubbornly refuses to budge? Well, we have and although we kicked, punched and swore, we never resorted to firepower to solve the problem.

But that’s not the case with a 66-year-old man from South Kitsap, 10 miles (16km) southwest of Seattle, who managed to injure himself in both legs after shooting at the mulish wheel-nut with his 12-gauge shotgun! According to the police, the frustrated man had been repairing his Lincoln Continental for two weeks and had removed all but one of the nuts on the right rear wheel. Guess this explains why he went nuts…

Thanks for the tip Chris P! , Source: BBC

Mercedes-Benz ML-Class Tuning...

When we first saw this picture at our Dutch pals over at Autoblog.nl our initial thought was a Suzuki Ignis based Mercedes ML-Class replica. However, a closer look at the image provided reveals that this ghastly creation could actually be an… original ML-Class! Whatever it is, it's bad and someone in Belgium should take action and take this “thing” off the road.

Via: Autoblog.nl

Chocolate Covered Jeep: Lick It And Win It...

It could have been worse; like those poor fellas that were sucking nipples off a Chevy in a Chinese contest a couple of weeks ago (click here). The Jeep event, which will take place on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio, will see seven contestants licking their way through one of seven chocolate-covered Jeep vehicles, representing each of the models in the brand’s line-up. The first two to lick their way through the layers of chocolate will be forwarded to a 2008 Jeep Liberty (Cherokee in Europe), filled with 25,000 pieces of wrapped candy. The first one to discover the keys hidden somewhere in-between the candy, will win the Liberty. -Press release after the jump

Press Release

Chocolate Lovers Compete for a Sweet Prize to Celebrate Sweetest Day

What: More than seven in 10 Americans, or 71 percent, believe anything is better when it’s covered in chocolate. To prove just how “sweet” our nation’s “sweet tooth” is, Jeep is challenging seven consumers to find the “sweet spot” on a chocolate-covered Jeep for the chance to win an all-new 2008 Jeep Liberty.

Jeep is inviting contestants to lick their way through one of seven chocolate-covered Jeep vehicles, representing each of the models in the brand’s lineup. The first two participants to lick their way through the layers of chocolate will make their way to the all-new 2008 Jeep Liberty, filled with more than 25,000 pieces of wrapped candy. Buried among all those tasty treats will be the keys to the grand prize -- a 2008 Jeep Liberty 4x4 with the industry-exclusive Sky Slider™ roof. The first person to find the keys will celebrate “Sweetest Day the Jeep Way” with their “sweet” new ride.

Who: Seven chocolate-covered contestants from Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Lexington, Ky.

When: Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007

• Event kicks off at 5:50 a.m. with a check presentation to Boys & Girls Club

Where: The Wolstein Center, 2000 Prospect Avenue E Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Details

Sweet Sights:

• Lick-ety Split – Seven contestants will literally lick through layers of chocolate that coat the grills of seven different chocolate-covered Jeep vehicles.
• Candy Chaos – Two consumers will race to the Jeep Liberty, open the doors and unleash more than 25,000 pieces of wrapped chocolate and candies, while searching for one set of car keys.
• The Sweetest Tooth – One contestant will savor the flavor when they find the keys and hop into the driver’s seat to claim his/her all-new Jeep Liberty

Other: This year, two of America’s favorite icons – Jeep and chocolate – are coming together to celebrate in an unusual way. Timed to coincide with Sweetest Day and the arrival of the 2008 Jeep Liberty in dealerships, seven lucky consumers will be selected to participate in the “Sweetest Day the Jeep Way” challenge for the chance to win an all-new Jeep Liberty

Cell Phone & Cars Equals Trouble...

No wonder Arnie doesn’t want anyone –especially teenagers (click here) to use cell-phones in their cars... Can you think of a better reason to ban those "devilish" machines in vehicles than this cell-phone related accident caused in Russia?

-More images after the jump

Via: englishrussia

Teen Lowers Mitsubishi Lancer The Cheap Way...

There’re several ways to lower you car, starting off by cutting the springs. However that’s not the case with a 15-year-old youth that was apprehended by New Zealand cops. Wanna know how the teen lowered his early-model Mitsubishi Lancer? Well, he simply filled his boot with rocks! As if driving an unsafe car wasn’t enough, the cops discovered that the vehicle was unwarranted and unregistered. Oh yeah, it also didn’t belong to the driver nor his mature (…) 27-year-old passenger.

Via: stuff.co.nz

Pic Of The Day: VW Tube.

Wouldn’t it just make you day if you took a train looking like a VW Bus in the metro every morning? Even better, we’d really dig seeing themed VW Tubes -like flower power, Andy Warhol, Pimp My Ride etc. Think any one would listen to us if we were to sell the idea?

Via: techdigest , Source: flickr

Are You Allowed To Stay Behind This Bike?

And then you wonder why men fail tests. Guess testosterone finds a way to overpass a man’s logic sometimes…

Via: Jalopnik , Source: Pictoral

2008 Audi TT El Camino – Credits Go To Danish Taxation System

Here’s what happens when you charge outrageously insane taxes on new cars: people turn passenger cars into trucks! Denmark features one of the most outrageous taxation systems in the world when it comes to cars (see our report on the European car taxation system by clicking here). There’s even a common saying in Denmark: “Get one car –pay for three”! So, in order to get around the tax burden, Danes turn cars into pickups, thus paying a fraction of the taxes.

We visited Audi’s official Denmark site to see the price-list of the 2008 Audi TT Coupe. Boy were we in for a surprise: prices start at 637,895 DK (Danish Krones) or $120,500 / €85,500 for the TT 2.0 TFSI 6-speed and go up to 805,492 DK or $152,200 / €108,100 for the TT 3.2 V6 FSi! No wonder people turn Audi TT’s into pick ups! PS: You have to look at Eurobiler’s (the company that converts TT’s Coupes to El Caminos) press photos. -Continued after the jump

Via: vwvortex