BlogCadre - cars

Car Wash, Sumo Style

Wed, 14 May 2008 23:00:58 -0500

Thongs. Check.
Water. Check.
Soap. Check.
Sumo wrestlers getting wet, wild and crazy. Sexy.

This Subaru commercial was done by DDB Canada and directed by Jorn Haagen.

Link to video [via DropKick Monkey]

A license plate worth millions

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:10:41 -0600

A number 1 license plate was auctioned off for $14.3 millions at an Emirates Auction.

The oil-rich cities of the Persian Gulf are driven by car culture, with relatively few pedestrian areas or public transport options. Vanity plates are a matter of personal pride and indulgence.

The value of a plate depends on a mix of math and emotional appeal. Normal license plates have 5 randomized numbers. From there, they get more expensive. Prices go up for fewer digits and cooler numbers. Number one is considered the most prestigious.

Link.

Full-scale Mercedes F1 made of matchsticks

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:39:13 -0600

Michael Arndt built a full-scale replica of a McLaren 4/14 F1 car made entirely of matchsticks. He used 956,000 matchsticks and 1686 tubes of glue over the span of six years. Total cost for his matchstick car was 6000 Euros. Link.

Optimus Prime Truck up for grabs for $50K on eBay

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:23:13 -0500

A 1994 Peterbilt truck has been converted into an Optimus Prime replica of the 2007 film version of the Autobot leader. It's up for grabs for over $50K at eBay Canada. The ony major downfall is that it does not transform into a robot. Link to eBay auction. [via ComNetSlash]

Previously:
Optimus Prime birthday cake, Optimus Prime Cake, 40 foot Optimus Prime statue (LwL)

Increasing your car remote's range with your head

Thu, 24 May 2007 20:32:34 -0500

Jason over at Hackszine writes:

According to the completely authoritative sources of youtube and metacafe, you can extend the range of your car remote by holding the remote to your head. It's easy enough to test, and if it works it could come in handy for finding your car in the parking lot. So far, I've found two videos demonstrating the hack, and both use a slightly different method.

In one method you simply touch the remote to your noggin - Link.

In the other video, a more sophisticated open mouth, below the chin technique is used - Link.

I'm guessing that your head is acting as a crude directional antenna, but if you know more about how this works, let us know in the comments.

Automoblox

Sun, 06 May 2007 21:18:21 -0500

Automoblox is a unique building system that your kids (or adult kids) are surely to enjoy. Automoblox comes in 3 different building kits: S9 Blue Sedan, C9 Red Sports Car, and T9 Green Truck.

[via Random Good Stuff]

Toyota Prius hack to charge your home and vice versa

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:55:13 -0500

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. have come up with a prototype Prius Hack which lets you transfer power between house and car.

The Toyota hybrid has been modified with what they call Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. You simply plug the Prius into a standard wall outlet, which charges the Prius batteries when the house has power, or lets those batteries power the house when it doesn't.

[via The Raw Feed]

Maserati Quattroporte covered with 800kg of shattered glass

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:22:16 -0500

This "art" piece was created by Italian artist Luca Pancrazzi for the second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. [via Autoblog]

The glass could certainly serve as car theft deterrent, although, the tesla coil deterrent looks much cooler and not so sharp.

Wire frame Subaru sculpture that would make Wonder Woman jealous

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:28:56 -0500

Jason over at Makezine writes:

British artist Benedict Radcliffe created this amazing, full-scale sculpture of a Subaru Impreza. It looks like a computer model overlayed on a street photo, but it's real, complete with Yokohama wire frame tires.

Dubbed "Modern Japanese Classic", this sculpture will probably make Wonder Woman jealous.

Tesla coil car theft deterrent

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:51:59 -0600

A guy attached a tesla coil, which he has named "Eye of Sauron", to the top of his car creating a very flashy looking car theft deterrent.

[via Gizmowatch]

China Traffic Jam

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:55:26 -0600

Do you think traffic is bad in your city? Think again...

It's one thing to be stuck in a straight line of traffic, but it's another thing to be stuck in round-about traffic. Yikes!

"Hey kids! Big Ben!"

Post-It Note Jaguar Office Prank

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 12:55:28 -0600

Here is a Flickr photoset of office colleagues pulling a prank on their co-worker Walt.

They stuck thousands of colorful Post-It Notes on Walt's Jaguar making it look like a a car from Toonville or a mighty big pinata.

[via digg]

You Park Like an Asshole

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:59:31 -0600

Are you tired of people who park their cars in two car spaces or park 10 feet away from the curb? Well, it's pay back time.

Download a notice from You Park Like an Asshole and place the notice on the parking offender's windshield. The notice will inform the offender of his or her infraction and public humiliation on the site.

[via digg]

Previous public humiliation sites on BC:
Sprinkle Brigade: Just Leave It. We Got It.

College students create parallel parking device

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:32:30 -0600

College students have created a parallel parking device that attaches to the underbody of a car. The device lifts the backside of the car and rolls the rear smoothly into the parking space.

You can view a video here.

[via TechEBlog]

Update: The University of Toledo College students have a detailed blog about their device.

Who Killed the Electric Car

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:31:48 -0500

In the late 90s electric cars were popping up all over California. These were not hybrid vehicles—they ran without gasoline and had zero emissions at the tailpipe. These were not powered by hydrogen fuel cells—they ran on currently available battery technology and were charged on the grid.

They were reliable.
They were fast.
They were functional for about 90% of the US market.

They were discontinued.

Manufacturing was stopped. All of the existing electric automobiles were taken off the road, crushed and disposed of. Who is responsible for the death of the electric car and why did this happen?

The documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" was released earlier this year to select theaters in the US. If you weren't able to catch it when it was in your area, it looks like the screening version has just been ~~posted to~~ removed from Google Video. Now we can all ~~watch it~~ imagine it playing on our computers, presumably without driving to the theater in our gas-guzzlers.

Update: Shortly after posting this, the video was taken offline. I've replaced the video with a PBS interview with the film's director, Chris Paine.

Update 2: Who killed the electric car videos? The PBS interview is now gone as well. Oh well, no electric car for you. No movies about them either.