Kurt Ernst, Contributor
Articles
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On Wednesday, November 28, Acura will reveal the all-new 2014 RLX sedan to a crowd of assembled journalists at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Since the reveal happens during the show’s press days,...
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What Do Tanner Foust, Carl Edwards, Stock Cars And A McLaren Have In Common?
It’s amazing what you can learn from just a picture, like the one shown above, posted to Instagram by Tanner Foust. At first glance, it shows a shredded right rear tire, seemingly from the number 99 Sprint Cup car of NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. Look closer, and you can see a clap board in the...
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MINI Shows Off Cooper Countryman Dakar Rally Support Vehicle
Last January, MINI surprised the racing world by taking first place honors in the grueling Dakar Rally. Even more surprising was the fact that 2012 represented MINI’s very first attempt at the event, a testament to the preparation and planning of the X-raid Team, as well as the durability of...
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Toyota Implementing Tech To Prevent Unintended Acceleration
With the unintended acceleration debacle now in its rearview mirror, automaker Toyota is employing technology to ensure that this won’t happen on future models. Intelligent Clearance Sonar and Drive-Start Control will (hopefully) eliminate accidents caused by pedal confusion or improper gear...
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2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Models Recalled For Hood Latch Issue
Mercedes-Benz has announced the recall of 2012 model year CLS-Class four-door-coupes built between December 1, 2011 and December 13, 2011. At issue are the bolts holding the hood’s secondary latch striker, which may not have been torqued to the proper value. As a result, the bolts can loosen...
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BMW Turns The M6 Into A Printing Press: Video
In it’s most elemental form, a rotary printing press consists of a cylinder that’s coated with ink, rolling across a sheet of paper. Though neither economical nor practical, it’s entirely possible to turn a car into a printing press, once you engineer a solution to spray the...
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We’ll admit to being impressed by unrestored and original muscle cars, dating back (in some cases) nearly 50 years. That’s why Jay Leno’s unrestored and original 1918 Cadillac Type...
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In Search Of New Customers, Lincoln Reinvents Itself
Lincoln, Ford Motor Company’s long-term luxury brand, knows one absolute truth: it can no longer sustain itself selling mildly badge-engineered Ford products to its traditional (and aging) customer base. To attract new buyers, especially the “cultural progressives” it covets...
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Quattroporte Gets Engine Options, Keselowski Wins 2012 Sprint Cup, McLaren Builds 12C GT Can-Am
When Maserati’s new Quattroporte sedan hits the market next year, buyers will be able to choose from turbocharged V-6 or turbocharged V-8 engine options. As with the 4.7-liter V-8 found in the current Quattroporte, both will be assembled in Ferrari’s Maranello factory. Brad Keselowski...
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NHTSA Executive Joins Google To Build Autonomous Cars
Ron Medford is currently the deputy director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which makes him second in command of the agency responsible for establishing motor vehicle safety standards. Medford has been involved with the federal government for over four decades, and has had a...
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NASCAR Ford EcoBoost 400 Recap: Keselowski Takes 2012 Championship
If you were looking for a NASCAR race filled with excitement, drama and plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing, Sunday’s season-ending Sprint Cup race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway wasn’t it. Starting on the front row, Penske driver Brad Keselowski simply had to finish the race in 15th spot...
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NASCAR Ford EcoBoost 400: Will Keselowski Take The Championship?
Heading into Sunday’s season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Homestead Miami Speedway, it seems all but certain that Brad Keselowski will earn his first-ever Sprint Cup Championship (which would also be the first Sprint Cup Championship for team owner Roger Penske). To do so, Keselowski only...
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When it comes to automobiles, nothing defines wretched excess quite like the Bugatti Veyron. Everything from its 987-horsepower (or 1,184 hp, in Super Sport trim) W-16 engine, to its multi-million...
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Mercedes to debut Ener-G-Force off-road concept in L.A.
When tasked with illustrating the “Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025,” the designers at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio based their idea on what a future version of the G-Class SUV would look like. For police use, it was critical that the truck be able to reach incident scenes both...
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1969 AMC AMX Defines What A Pro Touring Car Should Be: Video
In 1968, American Motors introduced a short-wheelbase, two-seat sports car called the AMX that many saw as a shot across the bow of the Chevrolet Corvette. Despite serving up reasonable performance (especially when equipped with the 390 cubic-inch V-8, rated at 325 horsepower) at bargain-basement...
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NTSB Publishes Recommendations For Safer Roads
The job of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is to make passenger travel safer, whether that travel occurs by car, bus, train, or airplane. Recent advances in vehicle safety have produced safer cars, but in this case safer also translates to more expensive. Consider the 2013 Infiniti...
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New Porsche Cayman Spotted Ahead Of Los Angeles Debut
Porsche has promised the introduction of a new compact sports car at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show later this month, and that car will almost certainly be the updated 2013 Porsche Cayman. We’ve published plenty of spy shots of the car in development, but hadn’t seen any images of an...
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MINI Sets Another Pair Of Oddball World Records
Automakers used to strive for world records in categories like maximum distance traveled over a 24 hour period, or maximum average speed over time, or even maximum distance traveled on a single tank of gas. These days, however, world records set by automakers seem just a bit less... substantial...
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When the lights go out at the start of Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, drivers will be challenged by the first new Formula One track since India’s Buddh International Circuit debuted...
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Fisker To Open New Midwest Tech Center For Atlantic
Fisker’s corporate home and design studio isn’t moving from Anaheim, California any time soon, and the automaker still plans to begin Atlantic sedan production at its assembly plant in Delaware. There’s a lot of real estate, and a lot of specialized electric vehicle knowledge...
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Could The U.S. Get Even More Formula One Races?
Bernie Ecclestone has had a love - hate relationship with U.S. Formula One fans in recent years. After the collapse of the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007, Bernie declared something along the lines of “Formula One doesn't need the United States.”...
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Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge Entries Revealed
Every year, the Los Angeles Auto Show offers up its Design Challenge, meant to give attendees a look into the world of automotive design. Last year, the theme was “Hollywood’s Hottest New Movie Car,” and the award went to designers from Smart. This year’s theme was the...
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Despite Cooling Sales In China, Lamborghini Optimistic For The Future
Last February, Lamborghini’s manager for the Asia Pacific region, Christian Mastro, predicted a cooling in the Chinese market at a time when other luxury brands were still bullish on increasing sales there. It turns out that Mastro was right, and Lamborghini is seeing decreasing demand for...
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More Photos Of Ferrari's Enzo Replacement Hit The Web
Ferrari’s strategy for the reveal of its new flagship, the rumored F70, appears to be to release details of a single component at a time. First, the Italian automaker gave us a peek at the Enzo-successor’s hybrid drivetrain, at April’s Beijing Auto Show. Then, at September’s...
Kurt Ernst