Jerry York, former exec of Chrysler and General Motors, dies at 71
Mar 18, 2010 Object
Filed under: Etc.
Jerome “Jerry” York, the former CFO of Chrysler and General Motors, died today at a hospital in Pontiac, Michigan after succumbing to a brain aneurysm he suffered late Tuesday evening.
York enjoyed stints at the Big Three during the 1960s and later helped Chrysler pull its way out of its financial crisis and government bailout in 1980. He also served on the board of IBM and Apple, and earlier this decade was instrumental in efforts to bring GM back from the brink, along with an attempted takeover bid of Chrysler with Kirk Kerkorian. Apple’s press release on York’s death is available after the jump, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Continue reading Jerry York, former exec of Chrysler and General Motors, dies at 71
Jerry York, former exec of Chrysler and General Motors, dies at 71 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: apple, brain-aneurysm, chrysler, dies, enhanced-vision, family, generalmotors, jerry york, jerryyork, michigan, release-on-york, tech, thoughts
What I’ve been watching
Mar 7, 2010 Object
Feast — First of all, let me just say that I will watch ANYTHING with Henry Rollins in it.
Tags: a-horror-fan-, a-word-for, a-young-boy, boys-at-school, expectations, family, film, henry-rollins, movie, watch-as-long
Toyota FT-86 concept gets a family-style welcome
Mar 5, 2010 Object
Filed under: Concept Cars, Classics, Coupe, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Toyota
Toyota FT-86 Sports Concept - click above for high-res image gallery
Toyota Motor Co. president Akio Toyoda has stressed that his family’s company must work to create more emotionally engaging products as part of its bid to reinvent its now-battered image. Central to that effort will be the production version of its well-received FT-86 Sports Concept, the two-door rear-driver that made its European debut at this week’s Geneva Motor Show, where it drew quite a crowd.
Toyota now appears to be pushing its brand’s enthusiast heritage, something it hasn’t truly done with fresh products in some time - at least not outside of its Lexus brand. In any case, the Japanese automaker has just released a series of new photos, including a family portrait of sorts that places the FT-86 in the context of the Corolla AE86 (its most obvious spiritual predecessor) as well as the Celica and Supra. Although the press release available after the jump pays lip service to the MR2, none is pictured.
While there is no substantive new information about a production timetable for the comely coupe, Toyota has released a series of images of the FT-86 that are certainly worth perusing. You can check them out below while you’re waiting for more info about the car’s future.
[Source: Toyota]
Continue reading Toyota FT-86 concept gets a family-style welcome
Toyota FT-86 concept gets a family-style welcome originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-friend-via, a-now-appears, concept-car, corolla, corolla ae86, family, louisvuitton, lssport, says-the-korean, toyota
Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition
Feb 26, 2010 Object
The Autoblog Weekender - Click above to find out what you missed
This week’s roundup is like a Jim Jarmusch film or a big pot of gumbo: there’s a little bit of everything in there, and some of it might make you wonder “What happened here?” People who watch UFOs end up catching a Honda CR-Z. The Buick Regal might not come with all-wheel drive but it might come with a nine-speed transmission. And one man buys ten - that’s ten - Aston Martin One-77s. For his family. But as with those Jarmusch films, these things are hard to explain, you just have to experience them yourself. Just one little click to follow the jump will do it…
Continue reading Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition
Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-friend-via, a-little-bit, aston-martin, entry, family, find-out-what, follow-the-jump, gumbo, gumbo-edition, jarmusch, people, weekender
Video: Valentino Balboni drives his self-titled Lamborghini
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Lamborghini
Click above to view the video after the jump
We’ve seen Valentino Balboni drive the tires off his namesake and even managed to spend a few hours with the man while stuck in LA’s notoriously hellish traffic. Now, Danish magazine Bil Magasinet gets some quality time with the famed test driver as he flogs his Lamborghini LP550-2 across the frozen countryside.
Balboni’s warm, Italian charm stands in stark contrast to the surrounding snow as he offers up several choice quotes about Lamborghinis past and present, his time with the automaker and the development of the LP550-2, among others. Speaking about the lack of all-wheel drive, Balboni says simply, “You need to control the car, the car doesn’t control you.” And with that he pulls off yet another perfect powerslide and goes about his day. It’s like you’re sitting in the passenger seat yourself. Hit the jump to see what we mean.
Continue reading Video: Valentino Balboni drives his self-titled Lamborghini
Video: Valentino Balboni drives his self-titled Lamborghini originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-little-bit, about-the-lack, aston-martin, development, entry, family, lamborghinilp550, sports, surrounding, time, weekender
Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 2.26.10
Feb 26, 2010 Object
Review: Lexus GS450h uses electrons for fun
Can a Lexus hybrid actually be an entertaining steer? We flog the GS450h for a week and come back with an answer. Yes.
Geneva Preview: 910-hp Koenigsegg Agera
Don’t mess with perfection. That’s the mantra of the new Koenigsegg Agera, a 910-hp, 250+ mph supercar that takes all the right bits from the CCX and distills them into a more attractive package.
Exodus Pictures unveils FireBreather movie car at Detroit Autorama
Exodus Pictures has made a modern Firebird out of the 2010 Camaro and 50 examples are up for grabs in the ramp up to the company’s new movie.
Also of interest:
- Geneva Leakage: Ferrari 599 Hybrid caught on stage
- 2011 Ford Mustang sales off to a galloping good start
- Officially Official: 2012 Lexus LFA priced at $375,000*
- Report: Saab 9-2 plans proceeding, design influenced by brand’s ’50s teardrop models
- Is the Utah legislature moving to ban all aftermarket exhausts?
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Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 2.26.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-friend-via, a-week-and, about-the-lack, caught-on-stage, development, family, flog-the-gs450h, galloping-good, koenigsegg, lexus, movie, pictures, time, uses-electrons, uturn
Advice: Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels Helps Fight Childhood Cancer
Feb 23, 2010 Object
Just over a year ago, my dear friends, the Whitts, lost their 2-year-old daughter Tuesday to cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 3 neuroblastoma, fought a hard battle and succumbed just six months later. This shocked everyone, including the online community that read the family’s blog. So it really hit home for me at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show when I came across Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels Santa Fe.
This year marks the 12th year of Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels program, which supports the fight against childhood cancer.
Tags: a-hard-battle, a-will-develop, a-year-ago, april-check, chicago, chicago-auto, children, country, family, online, pediatric, wheels-santa, whitts
News & Rants: Mitsu Sportback Test Drive: Pizza Survives Cargo-Door Incident
Feb 22, 2010 Object
The second week of my extended test drive in the 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart proved to be full of family fun and rough weather. Slick roads made me grateful for the Sportback’s all-wheel-drive system, and I was glad I’d requested that the hatchback’s standard summer tires be swapped out for winter tires (something that didn’t save me in week three; how’s that for foreshadowing?).
After picking up my girls from school on a particularly nasty evening, we decided it was the perfect time for PJs, pizza and a movie at home. We headed over to the grocery store, picked up a pizza and supplies, and rushed to load our stuff into the car; groceries and children both fit remarkably well in this family-friendly four-door hatchback. I was in such a hurry to get out of the rain that I slammed down the cargo door on the pizza.
Not to worry, the 10-second rule applied. I quickly opened the cargo door, pressed the cheese back into place and saved the pizza. Our pizza and a movie night wasn’t thwarted by my hasty cargo door slamming, and the car came out of the mishap fine, too. The saga continues…
Check back here and on Twitter.com/MotherProof as I write about my six-month test drive of the 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart.
Original post:
News & Rants: Mitsu Sportback Test Drive: Pizza Survives Cargo-Door Incident
Tags: a-movie-night, a-pizza-and, cargo, down-the-cargo, extended, family, girls, into-the-car, mitsubishi, movie-at-home, pizza, sportback, standard-summer, swapped-out-for
News & Rants: Documents Lead to More Toyota Recall Questions
In documents released to the federal government and disclosed by the media over the weekend, a Toyota executive touted savings of $100 million for avoiding a full-scale recall of 2007 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 350 sedans — as well as other models — for unintended acceleration. Many news outlets are picking up on this document as a sign that Toyota not only knew about the problem earlier than it publicly admitted, but that cost savings drove its decision making.
Tags: a-movie-night, a-pizza-and, a-safety-issue, down-the-cargo, even-the-safety, family, media, movie-at-home, sportback, toyota, toyota-camry
Car Reviews: 2010 Toyota 4Runner
Feb 17, 2010 Object
When I test drove the 2008 Toyota 4Runner, I thought it was a pretty cool SUV. So, I was excited to drive the newly redesigned 2010 4Runner. I don’t know if I’m just old and no fun anymore, but to me, the new 4Runner is just ridiculous. It’s huge for no reason, and it’s bouncy, beefy, bulgy and bloated. It felt about five sizes too big for my family of four, and it also seemed like family wasn’t really part of the design.
It’s not like the 4Runner is horrible. It has plenty of power and tons of features and tech. If I needed to plow through the woods with the 4Runner’s full-time four-wheel drive or haul a trailer up a mountainside, I might feel differently. If my kids were 6 feet tall and I had to drive them and huge amounts of gear around to hockey practice, I might understand an SUV this large with only two rows and a pull-out luggage shelf. But I don’t, and they aren’t and I can’t. So, for us, the 4Runner is just annoying.
The new 4Runner feels huge. It’s only about half an inch wider and less than an inch longer than last year’s model, but it feels bloated. For 2010, there’s a new 157-horsepower four-cylinder engine that gets 17/23 mpg city/highway; I drove the 270-hp V-6 with four-wheel drive, which gets 17/22 mpg. The V-8 engine is no longer available, so if you were hoping to tow something really heavy you’re out of luck. However, the V-6 can tow up to 5,000 pounds, and it had plenty of power for my day-to-day driving.
The 4Runner’s ride is truckish and bouncy, which makes sense since it’s a truck-based SUV. It has big, 20-inch wheels that soak up the bumps in the road. Visibility to the front is great since the 4Runner sits so high up, but it’s not as great to the rear and sides. The 4Runner’s big side mirrors and a backup camera help mitigate that.
The rest is here:
Car Reviews: 2010 Toyota 4Runner
Tags: 20-inch-wheels-, 4runner, a-backup-camera, a-pretty-cool, design, drive-the-newly, family, feels-bloated-, help-mitigate, hockey-practice, really-heavy, with-four-wheel
