Tag Archives: Car and Driver

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S vs. Morgan Aero Coupe – Car and Driver

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Car and Driver’s European Correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, sets up a British sport coupe showdown. It’s old school vs. new school with the Morgan Aero Coupe taking on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. The Aero Coupe is the most performance oriented model from a 100 year old company that still uses ash wood in the frames of some of their cars (if you want to call the 3-Wheeler a car). It’s simple and light giving it a good power to weight ratio with a BMW V8 under the hood. As with anything made by the hands of skilled craftsmen, the Morgan Aero Coupe is not inexpensive. The price tag is in the same neighborhood as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. Jethro takes both cars out on track to see how each car takes a different approach at similar concepts.


Source: CAR and DRIVER on YouTube

AEV Brute Double Cab – Car and Driver

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Have you ever looked at your Jeep and thought, “Man, I sure wish this came as a full size double cab pickup truck.” Fear not, for the aftermarket has you covered. This is the Brute Double Cab conversion from American Expedition Vehicles (AEV). AEV prides themselves on doing quality work at an OEM level. Most of their parts are made from stamped steel and are sourced within 200 miles of their factory in Michigan. The double cab Brute has an extended wheelbase, reinforced frame and the composite bed and cab are rubber mounted to the frame to isolate noise and vibration. Engine options run from the base 3.6 liter V6 to the 5.7 liter Hemi V8 with a supercharger. They build the trucks with “Overlanding” in mind which is long trips into the wilderness where the vehicle is your only lifeline. That means special attention has been paid to the Brute’s durability and all day comfort. Check out the video to see more details on this interesting truck.


Source: CAR and DRIVER on YouTube

2013 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and ZR-1

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GM is rumored to be debuting the all-new 2014 C7 Chevrolet Corvette at the Detroit Auto Show in January to be on sale summer or fall 2013. To celebrate the end of the C6 dynasty, Car and Driver’s Technical Editor, Michael Austin, rounds up the best of the special editions for a fond tribute. He rounds up the 505 horsepower Z06 and the 628 horsepower ZR-1 for some exercise around the track while talking about what makes each car so special.


Source: Car and Driver on YouTube

2013 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2

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Car and Driver’s European correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, brings us what he calls the last of the old school supercars. He’s talking about Lamborghini’s “base model” Gallardo with a true manual transmission and two-wheel drive. Lamborghini first made a two-wheel drive Gallardo to celebrate the retirement of their chief test driver, Valentino Balboni. It seems that car was popular enough to warrant them making it a regular part of the lineup. Even though the Balboni car was rear wheel drive, the suspension was set up very conservative to provide the stability of natural understeer. It seems that problem has been remedied for the LP550-2. Jethro says there is a slight touch of understeer that’s very easy to overcome to put the car into a drift which he demonstrates several times. The other “less is more” feature of the car is the open-gate manual transmission which turns out to be the last of its kind in the age of the modern supercar. It’s a shame that most of the people buying these cars prefer the short shift times to the experience and mastery of shifting your own gears with a clutch. Hopefully they will make a retro novelty comeback sometime in the future.


Source: Car and Driver on YouTube

How Limousines Are Made – Popular Mechanics

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Popular Mechanics gives us an inside look at LCW Automotive Corporation as they add a 120 inch stretch to a Lincoln MKT Towncar to turn it into a Premiere Limousine. Think of it as a 20 minute episode of How It’s Made. They go pretty in-depth talking about how they get the cars from Ford ready to be cut and stretched. The new floor is steel, the side panels are bolted on aircraft aluminum and the roof is a fiberglass and foam composite. The whole process takes 45 days, adds 800 pounds of steel and 4,000 feet of wiring to the original car.


Source: Car and Driver on YouTube