There are only 6 days remaining in our “Taste for Speed” giveaway, which includes more than $200 in prizes courtesy of Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr, and Dr. Pepper. Here’s how you can enter:
Send an email to jeff@drivelineblog.com with your email address and full name, along with a digital photo of your current vehicle.
In the body of your email message drop in a few words explaining why you think you should win this $200 prize package. (No more than 250 words, please.)
Entries must be received by 6:00pm MST on Tuesday, July 7th, and winners will be contacted via email. The winner’s photo and written justification for winning the prize package will be posted on Drivelineblog.com on the morning of Wednesday, July 8th.
Now that Twitter has become a ubiquitous tool for exchanging short bits of information (in 140 characters are less), we’re starting to see an increasing number of automakers turning to Twitter to communicate with customers and prospective buyers.
Like every other new communications medium, some organizations take longer than others to hop on the bandwagon. Granted, there still is a fair amount of bandwidth-clogging TMI on Twitter, but it is useful for a variety of things. Guy Kawasaki has argued that Twitter is one of the most valuable marketing tools ever created, so it was inevitable that more companies — including some automakers — would make a foray into the Twitterverse.
I’ve put together a draft list of official automaker Twitter feeds (see below) which I’ll attempt to keep updated on a regular basis. If you know of an official automaker Twitter account that isn’t on this list, drop me an email at jeff@drivelineblog.com and I’ll add it lickety-split. (Almost forgot: You can also follow Driveline Blog on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/drivelineblog.)
The kind folk at Dr. Pepper and Carl’s Jr. / Hardee’s Restaurants have sent word that they’re launching a prize giveaway that gives six lucky motorists the chance to drive home in a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.
Here’s how it works: For the next few weeks, purchasing a large combo meal (or large beverage) at a Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s restaurant will net you a “Dr Pepper Camaro” instant win game cup. Each cup will be printed with a game code that can be entered at www.drpeppercamaro.com for the chance to win a variety of prizes, including the possibility of winning one of those six Camaros. While you’re scoping out the aforementioned site to see if you’re a winner, you can also while away your free time by playing a web game called Drive-Thru Derby.
Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and Dr. Pepper have also offered up a “Taste for Speed” gift pack ($200 value) for Driveline Blog readers. This gift pack includes the following goodies:
Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and Dr Pepper coupons for free food and drinks
2010 remote controlled Camaro
Meguiar’s Complete Car Care Kit (includes Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner, Gold Class Wax, tire protectant and the Quick Interior Detailer kit)
Super absorbent ShamWow (8 count pack including a variety of sizes)
An assortment of other freebies, including a T-shirt, baseball caps, insulated coffee mugs, and antennae toppers
In order to win the gift pack, drop an email to jeff@drivelineblog.com along with the following:
A digital photo of your current vehicle of choice. The sky (and the ground) is the limit here: Whether you commute to work in a Red Ryder wagon or wing your way to the office in a P-51D Mustang, we want to see it!
An up to 250 word justification of why *you* deserve to win this prize package more than anyone else. Extra credit will be given for entries written in the form of a Haiku or in the meter of Green Eggs and Ham.
Your email address and full name. The winner will be contacted via email, and we’ll then ask for a street address to mail out the prize package.
Entries must be received by 6:00pm MST on Tuesday, July 7th. The winner’s photo and written justification for winning the prize package will be posted on Drivelineblog.com on the morning of Wednesday, July 8th.
While GM and Chrysler may be dealing with the shame of bankruptcy, Ford seems to have — so far — weathered the global financial storm while remaining in control of its own destiny. That might explain this YouTube video clip, which reportedly shows a Ford employee being taking for a joyride on a robotic arm. Comments by the YouTube poster seem to indicate that the footage was shot at a Ford factory, but it’s more likely that it was recorded at a robotics supplier.
Regardless of the shooting location, you have to give the passenger credit for trusting the operator/programmer of the robot arm. A hydraulically-assisted face plant wouldn’t feel so great, and the hapless subject appears to skim just inches above the floor in spots.
Lingenfelter Performance Engineeering (LPE) — perhaps best known for its tire-shredding Lingenfelter Corvettes — has announced that it will be producing a line of body components for the 2010 Camaro. According to a post on the LPE website, the following components will be available for purchase by Q3 2009:
Front Fascia & Rocker Extension
Front Splitter
Grille Bar Insert with Wire Mesh Texture
Hood with Air Extractors
Rear Deck Lip Spoiler
Rear Fascia Extension with Exhaust Tips
Rear Tail Lamp Panel
Pricing and additional details have yet to be revealed, but LPE promises to release that info soon.
If you’re already saving your pennies (or contemplating taking a hammer to your piggy bank) to buy Lingenfelter’s 800 HP Intercooled Twin Turbo Package for the 2010 Camaro SS, these new body components may fit the bill.
General Motors announced the details of its updated Viability Plan on Monday. In a statement announcing the news, GM said that this plan will “speed the reinvention of GM’s U.S. operations into a leaner, more customer-focused, and more cost-competitive automaker.” That reinvention has resulted in the elimination of the storied Pontiac nameplate, which will be phased out in 2010.
GM will move forward with only four core card brands in the U.S., including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. Saab, Hummer, and Saturn are also being shown the door, with the fate of all three slated to be sorted by the end of 2009.
Other aspects of the viability plan include a significant restructuring of GM’s dealer network, with the General going from 6,246 GM dealers in 2008 to an estimated 3,605 by the end of 2010.
“We are taking tough but necessary actions that are critical to GM’s long-term viability,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. “Our responsibility is clear – to secure GM’s future – and we intend to succeed. At the same time, we also understand the impact these actions will have on our employees, dealers, unions, suppliers, shareholders, bondholders, and communities, and we will do whatever we can to mitigate the effects on the extended GM team.”
Remember when the Ford Taurus was cool? Scratch that — it was more than cool. When Robocop rolled down the streets of Old Detroit looking for drug-addicted perps to pummel, he didn’t drive a Yugo, a Toyota, a Saturn, or a Volvo. To facilitate his nightly exercises in ass-kickery, OCP’s favorite officer would slip behind the wheel of his trusty, flat black Ford Taurus.
So after more than a decade of being lost in the wilderness — including a short, delusional period where Ford insisted on calling the Taurus the Ford Five Hundred — Ford has finally delivered a Taurus that Officer Murphy would again be proud of, thanks to the recent unveiling of the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO.
You can read the official Ford press release for the full scoop, but here are the vitals: a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 churning out 365 horsepower, a six-speed automatic transmission, a torque sensing all-wheel drive system, a retail sticker starting at $37,995, and an on-sale date of mid-2009. You can also find out more at the stalwart BringbacktheSHO Taurus fan community, which finally sees their prayers answered.
Maybe the new 2010 SHO will convince Conan O’Brien to update this homage to his emerald green 1992 Taurus, which you can see in the video clip embedded below. (Sourced from Eclipsenetwork.com.)
The 2009 Dodge Challenger and the 2010 Chevy Camaro may be getting lots of attention these days, but Ford wants to remind everyone that the Mustang is still a player in the muscle car market. Ford is planning a refresh of the Mustang for the 2010 model year, and has been steadily leaking teaser images of what the new vehicle looks like via the official 2010 Mustang teaser page.
While most of the changes to the vehicle will likely fall into the cosmetic (both interior and exterior) category, it will still be a significant refresh. Motor Trend is reporting that there’s a possibility the revamped Mustang may even get Ford’s new EcoBoost twin turbo V6 as an engine option.
Specific details will have to wait until the 2008 LA Auto Show (Nov 21-30), the venue where Ford plans to unveil the updated pony car. While we all wait, feel free to click through this gallery of available images.
Adding a community section to the blog has been on my to-do list for ages, and I’m happy to say that the task is finally complete. I managed to setup a community page on Ning recently, which you can visit by clicking here or on the Community tab on the nav bar in the upper right corner of the homepage.
Given that the community is new, there aren’t many posts in there yet. The user registration for the forums and for blog commenting are wholly separate, so you’ll need to register for the Ning community in order to post something. I hope to address that (and spruce up the forum layout and visuals) in the future. Until then, check out the Driveline Blog community and post away.
Top Gear host and automotive curmudgeon Jeremy Clarkson has consistently professed his disgust for American cars, claiming that a European variant of the Chrysler 300 had “wallow-matic suspension” and that driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee was so uncomfortable it felt like it was “made entirely from melted Lego.”
That’s why Clarkson’s recent, glowing review of the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V required a double-take: he actually liked it. You can see his full review of this new BMW M5-eating Caddy (and more of his entertaining reviews) over in the Times Online driving section.
Update: The UK Mirror is reporting (via Autoblog) that Clarkson recently survived a serious car crash during the filming of a recent episode of Top Gear. For more info, read the Autoblog take on the UK Mirror story. We all hope that Clarkson heals quickly and is up and driving again soon.
