Filed under: Government/Legal , GM , Earnings/Financials General Motors’ bankruptcy endgame appears to be at hand, with word coming out that the automaker will indeed file for Chapter 11 protection early on Monday morning, which in turn is expected to trigger $30.1 billion in U.S.
Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Safety The dispatcher had no idea who was interloping on the Ontario, Ohio police frequency. The mystery caller called himself Fred and requested a marked unit.
Filed under: Aftermarket , Sedans/Saloons , Euro , BMW Click above for a hi-res gallery of the new Hamann BMW 7 Series The arrival of the new F01 BMW 7 Series means that aftermarket companies have a new toy upon which to apply their talents. Enter Hamann, the German tuner with a penchant for Lambo-dooring , among other things. Thankfully, the firm’s workup of the all-new 7 Series leaves the factory door hinges intact, but that’s about it.
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Plants/Manufacturing , Subaru Click above for a hi-res gallery of the 2010 Subaru Legacy The 5th-generation Subaru Legacy has officially begun production, with the first car rolling off the Lafayette, Indiana assembly line late last week to confetti-strewn, ribbon-cutting fanfare. In keeping with Subaru’s recent new-model introductions, beginning with the current Impreza and continuing with the new Forester, the 2010 Subaru Legacy wears controversial new bodywork that abandons the elegantly understated lines of the outgoing model in favor of a more stylized (overstyled?) face attached to a car that has grown dimensionally in order to be better-positioned against the likes of the Honda Accord.
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing , Earnings/Financials To the roll call of auto industry titans that have gone or are going bankrupt — Visteon , Chrysler , GM , Saab , Karmann , ASC , Source Interlink — we can now add Tier 1 supplier Metaldyne, which filed for bankruptcy for its American operations. Metaldyne makes metal bits for car and truck chassis and NVH components
Filed under: Convertibles , Plants/Manufacturing , Supercars , Bugatti Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport – Click above for a high-res image gallery The marque’s faithful (read: the obscenely wealthy) have been waiting a long time for a convertible Bugatti. The last time a roadster rolled out of Molsheim was in the company’s heyday before WWII, and despite our teenage fantasies, no roofless EB110 ever materialized from the Romano Artioli era
Filed under: Concept Cars , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Videos Remember the Bailey Blade coupe being created by Neal Bailey in his Texas garage? Not only is Neal still at it, but he tells us he’ll have at least one, possibly three, prototypes ready for testing in October
Filed under: GM , Opel With General Motors expected to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday morning, negotiators in Germany scrambled to finalize a deal to save Opel from insolvency. Following a six-hour meeting in the German Chancellor’s office in Berlin on Friday evening, a deal was finally announced by finance minister Peer Steinbrueck. Although an overall deal to transfer control of Opel from General Motors was reached, details are still being worked out and a final contract won’t be signed for several more weeks.
Filed under: Tech , Ford SYNC has given Ford a much-needed technology boost. The infotainment device provides motorists with features such as voice-controlled integration with MP3 players and automatic calls to emergency services in the event of an accident
Filed under: Aftermarket , Etc. Click above to watch the Turbo Whistler in action Have you ever wanted your car to sound turbocharged without having any of the functional benefits