Jet City Journal

Maxi Mini

First there was the SUV, then came the cross-over and the compact SUV (not necessarily in that order).  Now Wired has the scoop on the new Mini SUV concept.  Yes, THAT mini...

Actually, I like it (though the comments are kinda "meh").  With AWD, it could be a good urban assault vehicle, especially if the mileage is decent. 

GM continues to be lame.

Production photos of the Chevy Volt are out. And it's boring.  I don't know why I'm surprised.

I was actually considering a Volt based on the concept. It would have been the first American car I'd purchased in more than 20 years.  Not any more.  Regardless of what's under the hood, this is a clear illustration of why GM is dying.  Boring, boring, boring, lowest common denominator styling.  When will GM learn that people actually care about form as well as function?

I would buy this car tomorrow

But BMW won't sell it here.

It's the BMW 118D.  The specs: room for 5, gets 59 MPG, kicks out 141 HP. It runs on diesel and was just recognized with the World Green Car award because of its low emissions and mileage.

Via Wired.

Why can't Detroit do this?

Jonathan Goodwin can alter a Hummer H3 so that it runs on french fry grease, has 600 HP (twice the stock HP) ... and gets 60 mpg.   In other words, he can tranform an obnoxious, gas guzzling, over-sized penis mobile into a an obnoxious, oversized, eco-friendly penis mobile... [via Fast Company]

And it comes with retractable tentacles

Is it just me?  Or does this concept car from Nissan look like a cartoon octopus? As if being seen driving this thing wouldn't be annoying enough:

Nissan designers added robotics functions to the Pivo 2, an upgrade of a car shown a couple of years ago, so that a bobbing mechanical head near the steering wheel speaks in a cute electronic voice to provide companionship.

Apparently, Nissan's designers never saw Total Recall...