Most car shows involve an hour of frantic polishing, followed by an hour of aimlessly walking the lot to check out the competition, and then finally, a good nap. But with 150 of the sweetest ‘Stangs ever to hit the road stationed door to door and bumper to bumper on every corner of the lot surrounded by more than a dozen top Mustang brands, each ready and eager to talk parts and performance, the 1st Annual AmericanMuscle Car Show and Charity Event was already set to be something different. Then add in a circling helicopter taking photos from 1,000 feet, a free dyno running from dawn ‘til dusk, free food and drink for all registered cars, more free stuff than you can carry in a mid-size sports coupe, and a slew of über-hot AmericanMuscle Girls strolling the lot, showing off their own fox bodies. Now that’s a car show.

Of course the central point of the July 19th event was the Best in Show competition. AmericanMuscle judges walked the lot all day long meticulously examining every show candidate. In the end, it was Tony Massimano’s fully-custom ’69 Mach 1 that took top prize. Here’s a list of the rest of the winners:

• Rick Bauman: President’s Choice Award: Torch Red ’05 GT


• Tommy Lee: Best ’05 to 2010 Mustang: Black ’06 GT500 Convertible


• Mike Baer: Best ’99 to ’04 Mustang: ’04 MystiChrome Cobra Convertible


• Donnie Huth: Best ’94 to ’98 Mustang: ’97 Cobra


• Rick Nagle: Best ’79 to ’93 Mustang: ’93 GT

In a day full of highlights, more than 1,000 showed up to walk and talk Mustangs, and show their support for Homes for Our Troops, a charity that buys or builds homes for disabled veterans. The goal for the day was to raise $5,000 for those that given more than we could ask while defending our freedom. But, when the day was done, and the money was counted, AmericanMuscle wrote a check for $8015 to its favorite charity. Adding to this number, the Garden State Region Mustang Club made an additional donation of $850, and an anonymous AmericanMuscle supplier also kicked in a check for $500, bringing the total donation to $9,365—a good day indeed.

For more information, plus lots of photos and video on the 1st Annual AmericanMuscle Car Show and Charity Event please visit: http://blog.americanmuscle.com/
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It looks like Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has a new toy to add to his garage, the Audi R8 5.2 V10 Spider. As we all know, Iron Man rocked an Audi R8 coupe in the first movie, so it's nice to see the new Spider making an appearance in the sequel.

So far, this is the best glimpse of the R8 Spider, until now all we had to go on were photochops and spy shots from the Nurburgring. Powered by the same 5.2 liter V10 found in the R8 5.2 Coupe, the R8 Spider boasts 525 horsepower, a 4.1 second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 180 mph. All things necessary to call itself Iron Man's ride of choice.



Look for the Audi R8 Spider to officially debut at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Source: Auto Express via Quattroholic
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While filming an episode of Fifth Gear, host Tiff Needle and actor John Barrowman were involved in a harrowing 80 mph crash as their modified Subaru slid down a verge, flipped 4 times and came to rest just short of a lake.

Luckily, both of the car's occupants only suffered minor injuries. The footage of the crash will be aired on the next episode of fifth gear. Barrowman said about the crash, "I'm lucky to walk away unscathed. I got a ticking off from my mum afterwards."

Source: Daily Mail via Jalopnik
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As I was listening to The Howard Stern Show today, Howard introduced his latest "Miss Howard TV" model, Melissa Anne Teixeira. Not only did Howard describe how smokin' hot this chick is, he also mentioned how much she loves cars. Turns out, in addition to being a gorgeous model, Melissa Anne is also a certified HEMI fan. So much so, she goes by the name "HemiGirl." So if you love HEMI's and hot women, read on.

As I mentioned before, Melissa Anne is a successful model, however her day job is as a Chrysler saleswoman. Howard asked whether all the guys looking to buy a car at her dealership jump for the chance to have her as a salesperson. She admits this was the case in the beginning of her career but not as much any more. I have to admit, my chances of buying a Chrysler would be greatly improved after a test drive with Melissa.

If you're wondering whether she wears sexy outfits while explaining the gas mileage of the latest Chrysler 300, she's all business. No short skirts or thigh high boots, it's strictly business attire while working. When modeling however, off goes the pants-suit and bikini's and sexy lingerie grace the figure of this 5'7 beauty.

HemiGirl with her ride (above)

Be sure to check out HemiGirl's Myspace page as well as her official website, TheHemiGirl.com!
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In Racine, Wisconsin, an Oscar Meyer Wienermobile crashed into a house after trying to turn around on a dead end road. It turns out the 22 year old female driver of the Wienermobile thought she had the giant hot dog in reverse when it was actually in drive. As she hit the gas, the Wienermobile plowed right into this house.

As this FOX affiliate reports in Wisconsin, try to count how many puns the anchors use while setting up the story.



Good news for the homeowner, as Oscar Meyer will pay for damages considering the homeowner recently lost her insurance on the house. Too bad for the kid next door though, who just wanted a hot dog.

Source: FOX6 News via Jalopnik
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At this year's 2009 Bavaria Moscow City Racing, an ultra-rare Bugatti EB110 was totaled as it hit an embankment. According to the New Zealand newspaper "The Times," the car was driven by a Russian man with his supermodel girlfriend in passenger seat. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

As any Bugatti is rare, only 139 EB110's were ever produced and debuted in 1991 as a tribute to 110th birthday of Ettore Bugatti. The EB110 featured a mid-mounted 3.5-liter quad-turbo V12 producing 542 horsepower with a 0-62mph time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 213 mph.





Source: World Car Fans and YouTube
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Ferrari introduced the world to their new Handling Gran Turismo Evoluzione sport handling package at this year's Geneva Motor Show. As we were all very impressed with the technical aspects of the kit, many still wanted to know how well it actually works. Now, we can see a Ferrari 599 GTB HGTE being pushed hard around the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, England. Before watching the video though, remember to crank up the speakers to hear this prancing horse in action.



Source: Carscoop via YouTube
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On April 23, 2009, Nissan's test driver Toshio Suzuki made the fastest run yet around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in a 2010 Nissan GT-R. Clocking 7 minutes, 26.7 seconds, this marks a company record for Nissan and the GT-R, yet still comes just .3 seconds short of the Corvette ZR1.



Source: YouTube
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Romanian designer, Iulian Bumbu has created this S.X. concept design study for BMW as what could be a future replacement for the current 6-Series design.

There are many styling cues that are 100% BMW (well, maybe not "many," but a few). Overall though, to me, this car looks far, far from a BMW. Albeit, we as auto enthusiasts may have "bangle butts" burnt into our brains, as an image of what a BMW "should" look like. This BMW S.X. however, looks a lot like an Aston Martin to me (a whole lot). If you take a look at the new Aston Martin One-77, and then again at these pics, the similarities are uncanny.

Keep in mind, with a price tag of over $1 million, not everyone can afford an Aston Martin One-77. So for those who want the same Aston styling with BMW's fine Bavarian quality and reliability and a price tag of under $100k, this car may just be a hit. That is, if BMW chooses this design to bear the 6-series nameplate.





Source: Carscoop
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Motor Trend scored a once in a lifetime opportunity to document a trip around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing. Motor Trend's editor-at-large, Arthur St. Antoine rode shotgun with five-time German Touring Car (DTM) Champion Bernd Schneider as he pushed the SLS to it's limits on one of the world's most challenging tracks.



Source: Motor Trend via YouTube
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German-based tuner, INDEN-Design, has put their signature touches on the Ferrari F430 Spider. Although, engine modifications may be modest, performance is upgraded thanks to a new aerodynamic body kit which helps the INDEN F430 Spider reach a better-than-stock 186 mph. So this is indeed more show and more go!

All in all, the INDEN-Design Ferrari F430 Spider sports new "muscular" side flaps, carbon-fiber rear diffuser and spoiler. In addition to the aesthetical upgrades, a new sport-tuned stainless exhaust system, lowered suspension and upgraded ECU help to add 35 horsepower. Of course, no tuning project would be complete without wheels, this F430 Spider features 20-inch, 3-piece INDEN wheels to finish off the package.













Press Release:

INDEN-Design dress the F430

The Tuner INDEN has specialized himself on the dressing of upscale sports cars. Based on the Ferrari F430 INDEN-Design remakes a special edition of this car, which assured with design and engine power. The Ferrari F430 from INDEN-Design is cespecially characterising of a technology which was putted to the acid test for many test-kilometer.

To attain a maximum speed of over 300 km/h, the aerodynamic is from fundamental importance. At the front the Tuner from Haiger put up a modified front-spoiler. Because of this design a aerodynamic is being produced, which the wind flow of the car influenced positive. The side-flaps are a muscular sign. The attached parts, like the carbon-diffusor and the rear valance make the sport optics perfect.

For the ultra-wide tracking of the car, they attached especially lightweight wheels. The wheels with the dimensions 8,5x20 (235/30 R20) inches and 12x20 inches were assembled with 325/25 R20 high performance tires. These provide controllable speeds on sports car level. A few millimetres closer to the ground makes the F430 a INDEN-Design sport spring set, which is a modified curve by progressively wound spring coils a reasonably acceptable hardness.

The stainless steel-made sport exhaust system with damper control and Kat replacement tubes in conjunction with a new engine electronics coaxed 35 horsepower extra. The stainless steel exhaust system has a damper control which is either through back pressure control automatically opens or closes. If you want you can open and close it by remote control.

The compensating specialists from Haiger have not only a sense for external values, including the interior for you belong to this particular individual. This is already in embarking in sports significantly. The two-seated cockpit of the F430 combines pure racing look to a combination of carbon and leather with the comfort of a super sports car. The combination of the colors the buyers can choose by themselves. The dashboard, the center console, sport wheel covers and several covers have been refined with original leather and invite you to start your trip.

Through the applied nano-sealing a long-lasting protection of the varnish is guaranteed. For even more individualism INDEN-Design offers an extensive list of special equipment options. This allows almost any customer request to get satisfied.

Source: INDEN Design via World Car Fans
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It hasn't taken the tuning experts at ABT Sportsline long to put their hands on the 6th generation Volkswagen Golf GTI. The result? How does 260-300hp sound?

Considering the VW Golf GTI MkVI is an already impressive platform to start with, ABT did not have to do much to boost the GTI's power from 211 horsepower to an impressive 300hp. Thanks to a new turbocharger, reworked ECU and upgraded exhaust, not only has the horsepower gone up, but the the acceleration has also improved, to a 6 second 0-62mph time.

In addition to the engine upgrades ABT brakes and full suspension setup have also been added, resulting in a 30mm drop in ride height. On top of the sport suspension, a full body kit adds LED lights, a new ABT front grille, spoiler, side bar, rear spoiler and front lip. Finally, 18 or 19 inch wheels are the final option to make this GTI stand far from the pack.

If you're interested, I hope you live in Germany (or have the ability to ship your car there). Pricing for the full 300 hp kit installed by ABT runs €5,300.





Press Release:

The matchless Golf - ABT's new GTI

ABT Sportsline has now been customising vehicles for five decades - and right on time for the Anniversary, the Allgäu Company is presenting the new, sixth GTI. Sporty and fast "Golfs" in particular have carried these three letters since 1976. ABT was the place to go for everyone who wanted even more dynamic and driving fun from the very beginning. The latest generation of the compact sports car also bears the magic abbreviation, and of course it is now available in a breathtaking ABT version. The engine output is impressive, because due to optimized engine management (ABT POWER), the standard 210 HP (154 kW) become a dynamic 260 HP (191 kW). ABT POWER S makes the GTI even hotter: a new turbocharger, „Made in Kempten", is used additionally in this case. The 2.0 TSI then has an output of a sporty 300 HP (221 kW) and accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in around six seconds. Thanks to ABT chassis springs, the GTI's centre of gravity is located a good 30 mm lower, so the Über-Golf can be driven even more sportily. The chassis setting, which was designed by Christian Abt, is especially good fun on winding roads. And in the extreme case, the powerful ABT braking system also kicks in.

But an ABT Golf GTI is not only a hot piece of sports equipment for the road, it also looks like one: the bodywork package that designers have created underlines the car's pure dynamics: no matter how you look at the GTI, it is always impressive. Rear spoiler and rear apron superstructure, side mouldings, front grill and apron as well as the diagonal 4-pipe exhaust system form one unit. ABT engineers also designed a front lip, which provide s a power-performance in combination with the front apron and the new ABT Daytime Running Lamp. The equally elegant as expressive colouring matches this: the paintwork in carbon steel grey metallic harmonises perfectly with side mouldings and front lip in the contrast colour red. The design also continues consistently in the interior, for all screens, the ornamental rings of the combination instrument and the steering wheel panels are painted in the signal tone. One look at the Allgäu sports car will tell you that it's more than a "normal" Golf GTI - and consequently the sixth variation of the fast compact car with the large tailgate is steeped in the best tradition. Namely, its five predecessors also became powerful Golfs at ABT. ABT and GTI: these six letters have simply belonged together for 33 years.

Source: ABT Sportsline via World Car Fans
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