Most Recent: Cars and Moto
Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 9:48 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Cars and Moto, Winter, Ski-Doo, New York, Adirondacks, Evinrude, Anniversary
Marking Ski-Doo's 50th
Maybe it's the impending winter? Maybe it's the record-setting heavy snowfall that the east coast has seen the past two years? Whatever the reason, we're looking to get out this winter and motor through some snow trails. Fortunately, a company that started with a Ford engine on a set of wood skis in a Quebec garage is celebrating 50 years of the world's most cutting-edge snowmobile models.
To mark the occasion, Ski-Doo is unleashing two very special models that could change how you spend your leisure time this winter. The first is the sleeker and sportier 50th anniversary MX Z, which was built with Evinrude's cutting-edge E TEC engine. The other is the larger, cruder beast wagon known as the Summit.
With all kinds of snowmobiling tracks within a couple of hours drive of New York, these two special Ski-Doos could be a sound investment. The best places to check out this winter include Tug Hill near Watertown, New York, a popular snowmobile and ATV locale. You'll also find hundreds of miles of snowmobile track throughout the Adirondacks, all within range of some fine accommodations in Lake George, particularly the nearby and historic Sagamore Hotel. Wherever you choose, you'll want to get out of town since snowmobiling isn't exactly something we can do up and down Park Ave.
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Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 6:40 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Cars and Moto, Ferrari, Gadgets, Apple, ipod, Handheld, Technology, Scuderia Spider 16M
Tired Ferrari Gadgets Don't Work Without the Car
Like every other major sports car manufacturer, Ferrari has been doing plenty of work to lend their brand to other products. They may have reached a boiling point recently, though, with the release of the latest Ferrari-branded Vertu phones (retail price around $10,600). While they feature the same leather and stitching you'd find in the sports cars' interior, you won't find any special features that justify the price tag. If you want a special Ferrari toy to play with, you're best off looking at cars and gadgets in one tidy package. It?s a combination the company is only now getting into and should try to do more of in the future.
Like the phone, there's also talk of the new Ferrari 16GB iPod touch, another product long on hype and short on features. Unlike the phone, the iPod comes complimentary with Ferrari's incredible new Scuderia Spider 16M. The limited-edition iPods come packed with Ferrari content, including photos, video, and engine audio (which seems like an unnecessary feature). It's the inclusion of the sports car that saves this bizarre combination of brands, something Ferrari's other branding partners should keep in mind. If you're going to use the car's label, you might as well include access to the car with it.
With only 499 of them made, the car itself is awe-inspiring enough without the complimentary iPod. It's an open-top version of the famed F430 Spider, the howling, aluminum-body convertible so powerful it measures 8500 rpm in first gear, topping out at 193mph as Ferrari's fastest-ever road car. Inspired by the Formula One racecar that won the 2008 Formula One Constructor's Championship, the 16M even features the six-speed F1 gearbox you'd find in their racing models. All of which makes it the closest thing to a Formula One vehicle you can get without bribing Ferrari driver and 2008 Formula One runner-up Felipe Massa. Maybe you could offer him the Ferrari iPod?
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Posted on Monday, November 10, 2008 at 6:42 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Cars and Moto, Bentley, Diamonds, Handheld, Technology, Japan
For generations now, men have made a habit of buying diamonds for the women in their life. It's part of the reason New York's diamond district is constantly teeming with people. But in the midst of the word 'bling bling' being added to the Oxford English Dictionary and the price of diamonds dropping for the first time in five years (a drop that could go as far as 15% in 2009 according to RBC Capital), that pampered paradigm may be starting to shift.
While the addition of diamonds to some men?s wardrobe (something we can?t get behind) is old news, some recent developments show that diamonds are playing a larger role in men?s luxury. It started with the addition of a diamond-studded key chain made by Amosu, an $8,000 accessory available for a number of Bentley models. Considering you're already riding the Bentley, we thought the additional accessory seemed kind of redundant. But some additional news showed us that there was indeed a market for this kind of outrageous opulence.
For what it's worth, that market is in Japan, where a line of $131,000 diamond-encrusted Tiffany cell phones have completely sold out in just three days. The phones do feature some other cutting-edge features, but the real draw was the 537 diamonds splayed over a platinum panel.
With Dunhill unveiling holiday gift ideas for men that include diamond-encrusted belts and USB keys, we could be on the cusp of tacky diamond overload. At the end of the day, it?s classic overcompensation and, quite frankly, it doesn't really look right.
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 at 4:40 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Transit, Transformers, Concept Cars, BMW Group, BMW GINA, Cars and Moto, Technology
BMW Introduces a Car You Can Take to the Cleaners
First, a fair word of warning: the following BMW vehicle we are about to discuss will never be a production vehicle, so don't start lining up at your nearest Beemer dealer. It could, however, change the way certain luxury carmakers manufacture their rides.
The concept car in question is the GINA (Geometry and functions In N Adaptations) Light Visionary. It's a sleek sporty model that, instead of being clad entirely in steel, has a shape-shifting frame wrapped in a polyurethane-coated Lycra cloth that allows the car to change its shape in different conditions. It's not exactly Optimus Prime, but it's a potentially-revolutionary new sports concept, even if on the surface it seems like an incredibly unsafe ride on the highway. We're guessing Lycra doesn't withstand head-on collisions too well.
The 4.4-liter V8 six-speed is a suitable BMW vehicle to begin with, but we're more taken by the innovative features. Like the shifting steering wheel and headrests that provide more room for drivers to enter the car and the easy engine access through a simple slit in the front hood. What's more, the simple four-panel car design and a special series of hydraulics allow you to alter the aesthetic features of your car without damaging the cloth wrapping.
BMW claims this out-of-the-box design is perfectly safe, but they're not going to give the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety the opportunity to test that out. What a coincidence. Nevertheless, the real contribution of this BMW could be seen in the years to come. As the most innovative car design we've probably ever seen, who knows what kind of shape-shifting sports car the GINA might eventually yield to. Next step, Transformers?
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Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 7:53 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Cars and Moto, Steve McQueen, Triumph, The Great Escape
Triumph Introduces the Ultimate Street Bike
Triumph already has a historic reputation out on the road, due in no small part to Steve McQueen?s enthusiasm for their bikes, but in the last few years they?ve tried to build on that rep by introducing a variety of new rides that pay homage to the company?s past (the new Bonneville T100) while paving a unique road for the future (their super cruiser, the Rocket III).
With the recent introduction of the Street Triple R, they?ve finally managed to combine the top elements from different models into a single all-world two-wheeler. After showing off the vehicle for the first time in September on the Isle of Man?s famous TT course, we could have a new combination of everything we hold dear on the road, accented nicely by Triumph?s classic design.
That traditional British design is built around the renowned Daytona 675 engine, a middleweight sports engine that combines the impressive power of a real hog with the smooth handling of a sports bike. Put simply, it?s the best of both worlds, a powerful yet versatile new bike that we?re really excited about. Because it is modeled around the older Daytona models, we hesitate to call the Triple R a true original. But by being practical in how they?ve upgraded and altered the 675 line, the company that helped Steve McQueen in ?the Great Escape? might have an iconic new ride on its hands.
For New Yorkers, it just might be the perfect mid-sized ride. It?s practical and eye-catching (who doesn?t love attention, right?) enough to ride around the city, but when it comes time to get out of the city and enjoy some time out on the road, you?ll be in good hands. Just try to control the temptation to jump over a barbed-wire fence, McQueen-style.
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