Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Sports/GTs, Auction Action, Supercars, Lamborghini

eBay Find of the Day: 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo - Some assembly required

by Jonathon Ramsey on Mar 31st 2009 at 8:20PM

Lamborghini Gallardo exploded-parts-diagram eBay find - Click above for a gallery

The shell of the Lamborghini Gallardo that was gutted to make the bizarre Ford-Mustang-meets-Lamborghini Tractorri showcar is for sale on eBay.

The orange bull is laid out like Humpty Dumpty for some well-heeled Alice – or Alistair – to put back together again. The only thing is you’ll need to find a new engine, driveline, suspension, interior, and electronics among other things, since they were all used for the SEMA car. Or, you could just pick up the innards of a Mustang and make the inverse of the Tractorri — the Mustardo, perhaps? You can bid at the link, or just have a look at the exploded-parts-diagram gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Jake!

Gallery: Tractorri Gallardo Parts

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Gallery: Tractorri Lamborghini Mustang

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[Source: eBay]

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This little roadster’s overarching survival adaptation is, of course, its extraordinary fun and affordability quotients. It’s cute and sporty, lets you blow-dry your hair on I-95, handles magnificently, and doesn’t make you really dollar up to buy it, gas it and insure it.

Fun is really the operative term here, and you can argue that for the 2009 model year, Mazda has even built a fun metaphor right into the front of the car. I mean, doesn’t that grille opening look like the smiley face your teacher draws on your homework?

In addition to the grille cosmetics, the 2009 edition has received the usual Miata mechanical tweakings. These include ride improvements that weren’t achieved at the expense of the car’s superb handling, and a mile-per-gallon bump on most models.

The Miata is available this model year in two forms, the soft top convertible, which starts at $21,750, and the retractable hardtop, which opens at $25,390. That differential is deceptive because the cheapest soft top is the stripped SV model, while the retractable is a better equipped Sport model. If you compare the soft Sport with the hardtop Sport, the difference is $2,640.

The Miata price range goes from $21,750 for an unair-conditioned SV ragtop to $29,290 for the loaded, leathery Grand Touring model with the hardtop and six-speed automatic.

I tested the Grand Touring soft top with the six-speed manual gearbox, a $26,350 machine that really suited me. It was fitted with all the usual luxury suspects plus two features that set it apart from its cheaper brethren: a cloth roof instead of the more plebeian vinyl one, and a six-speed transmission instead of the standard five-gear job.

An interesting note: Apparently because the six-speed’s lower gears are lower-ratio than the five-speed’s, the latter gets a little better city mileage. The five-speed has EPA city and highway ratings of 22 and 28, respectively; the six-speed I drove was 21 and 28.

Not that a mile-per-gallon would have been enough to make me trade. What we’re talking about here is a delightfully precise, close-ratio, short-throw gearbox that has to be one of the niftiest in the business.

The six-pack is buttoned to a techy, normally aspirated four-banger that squeezes 167 horsepower from a scant two liters. It does this, in part, by employing a high (10.8:1) compression ratio, a tactic that occasions the one uneconomical note in the Miata score: the need to use premium fuel.

While the Miata’s 167 horses may not sound like such stuff as a NASCAR Sunday is made of, it makes for lively fun in a steed that’s only 13 feet long and weighs in at a mere 2,511 pounds.

In addition to being fast enough to be fun, the Miata is an absolute cornering joy on a winding byway in the Philadelphia hinterland.

The fun and games derive in part from a firm undercarriage that keeps the Miata flat and poised in a fast turn. Sticky performance tires mounted on hefty, 17-inch alloy rims give it good adhesion in those corners, and the precise steering system affords the kind of feedback that leaves you feeling on top of things. Relatively huge anti-lock disc brakes (the front rotors are 11.4 inches, the back ones, 11) shut things down in a hurry.

The Miata tester proved sporty/handsome inside as well as outside. By employing natural leather seats with yellow saddle stitching, the interior cleverly sidestepped the cliche status of its bright metal-accented black interior.

Unlike the original Miata trunk, the new car’s is reasonably sized. It will hold at least three dozen Bernie Madoff action dolls. (You know, the ones where a Ponzi pyramid appears when you press the doll’s belly button.)

Excellent

Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring (soft top)

Base price:

$26,350.

As tested: $27,020 (inc. shipping).

Standard equipment: Two-liter engine, six-speed manual gearbox, dual exhausts, near-luxury amenity array including leather, Bose sound, anti-lock disc brakes, and alloy wheels.

Options: None.

Fuel economy: 21 m.p.g. city and 28 highway.

Engine performance: Willing and able.

Handling: Top shelf.

Styling: Athletic.

Warranty: 36 months/36,000 miles bumper to bumper.

The Ben Key: Four Bens, Excellent; Three Bens, Good; Two Bens, Fair; One Ben, Poor.

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Well, the F-Series remained the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. for the 28th year, though sales were down dramatically from 2007. And Grand Cherokee and Escalade combined for more than 100,000 sales.

But they are gas misers compared with the aptly named Nissan Armada. At 9 m.p.g. in the city, 13 on the highway, it does worse than a Chevy 1500 cargo van. But that doesn’t matter to the 15,685 people who needed something Sasquatch-sized.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Kia Rio, one of the most fuel-efficient non-hybrids, sold 36,532 units—only about 3,000 more than Escalade. The hip and fuel-efficient Mini Cooper (among the few cars whose sales were up in 2008) sold 54,077 units last year. Not bad until you consider that Chevy sold almost the same number of Suburbans.

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Subject: 1979 impala wagon “ghetto slide” electrical problem

Just picked up this clunker fer $500 bones. Its been running quite well with no maintenance yet! I jumped in and turned the key, it started to crank, then, everything went dead. Lights, turn signals, starter, heater…EVERYTHING. Could this be a problem in my starter, My ignition module, a computer? Or is it a bad fuse or some sort of relay? Its a 350 CI motor by the way. Any ideas will help. Thanks - Donny

The good news is you probably have a problem that will cost little to nothing to fix. If you turn the key and everything goes dead, you’re probably looking at a badly corroded battery. Corrosion builds up over time, and can even accumulate in the tiny space between the post on your battery and the cable that’s attached to it. All you need to do is clean your battery posts and I bet you’ll be ghetto sliding in no time at all. Of course, the best move is to get them clean before you’re faced with a situation.

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Filed under: Sports/GTs, Etc., Videos, Supercars, Audi, BMW, Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, LLC., Dodge, GM, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Saleen, Alfa Romeo, Callaway, AMG, Special/Limited Editions

VIDEO: Sultan of Michigan’s car collection one of nicest we’ve ever seen

by Chris Paukert on Mar 27th 2009 at 7:57PM

Click above to watch the video after the jump

We’ve been through a lot of great car collections and museums over the years, but even we have to admit that we’ve never seen a private collection like this. Assembled by a shadowy figure known only as “The Sultan of Michigan,” this cache has something for car enthusiasts of most every stripe, although the focus is clearly on vintage and present-day muscle and Eighties-and-up supercars. Truck enthusiasts, vintage foreign guys and brass car enthusiasts will largely have to look elsewhere, but it’s a magnificent collection, with the most flabbergasting thing being that it appears to be up-to-the-minute current.

The whereabouts and ownership of the collection are two things that the owner prefers to keep private – we actually have confirmation on both, but prefer to respect privacies. What we can confirm is that this treasure trove is, in fact, located in Michigan, which is both heartening (to know that such wealth and mechanical beauty still exists in the state) and somewhat confounding (as the area lacks truly great winding roads on which to exploit much of the machinery). In either case, the collection is generally kept under wraps, although periodically we understand that the owner invites in selected parties to share in the gorgeousness. Some of the folks at MidwestSSC.com are obviously part of the ‘inner circle’ judging by the video and this photo gallery. Follow the jump to take the tour for yourself. Thanks to Andrew Weber for use of his video, and we appreciate the tips, Justin and Evan!

[Sources: Andrew Weber; MidwestSCC.com]

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Automotive safety has fast progressed far beyond air bags and crash-energy absorbing “crumple zone” construction. Advanced features such as rear backup cameras and stability control systems are already relatively common among all but the least-costly cars. The next wave of auto safety advancements comes in the way of so-called driver assistance systems that help a motorist avoid getting into a collision in the first place. Some can even take over the control of a vehicle if necessary.

Research conducted by the German Ministry of Transport have shown that, if and when they become widespread, such systems can have a preventive influence on more than 50 percent of all accidents. While many current systems remain available only in higher-end models, expect them to become more widespread in coming years, according to Stephen Lovett, director of the automotive and transportation research practice with the market research firm Harris Interactive in Rochester, N.Y. “It’s just getting to the tipping point where within the next two to three models years, these types of features will be offered on midsize sedans and become available for the average consumer.

Such is the case with the blind-spot monitoring system, which is now being offered on a wider array of models. This uses rear- and/or side-mounted cameras to detect the presence of vehicles just to the side and rear of a vehicle and gives visual and audible notifications to alert a driver to their otherwise unseen presence. Ford debuted its own version of the technology this year that further includes what the automaker calls Cross Traffic Alert; this notifies drivers backing out of a parking space when traffic is approaching from a vehicle’s sides.

Another driver assistance feature that’s just finding its way into additional autos is the lane departure warning system, which helps keep inattentive drivers from inadvertently veering into another line of traffic and causing a collision. The system looks for highway lane markings and generates an audible signal if it determines the vehicle is about to cross them. Nissan’s latest twist on the technology, available on the Infiniti EX crossover SUV and FX sedan, “gently” engages the vehicle’s stability control system, selectively applying the brakes to the appropriate wheel to help nudge it back into the lane.

Further keeping a watchful eye on a car’s human element to help prevent accidents is Mercedes-Benz’s new Attention Assist system. Debuting later this year, it scrutinizes a car’s steering-wheel input to determine if the driver is becoming sleepy (or is otherwise impaired), and will sound an alert and illuminate a “coffee cup” icon on the dashboard to advise him or her that it’s time to take a break.

A few luxury autos offer what are dubbed collision mitigation systems, in which the car takes precautionary measures like priming the brakes to full force and tightening the seatbelts if it determines a crash is unavoidable. The Pre-Collision System offered in the hybrid-powered Lexus LS 600h L luxury sedan goes a step further by actually helping a driver avoid hitting obstacles – even pedestrians – in the vehicle’s path. Here, two video cameras monitor the road ahead, while another is focused on the driver’s face. If the system determines that the driver isn’t keeping his or her attention on the road while it also “sees” an object or pedestrian in the car’s path it will not only set off audible and visual alerts but will also apply the brakes and reprogram the steering for maximum quickness to help the driver steer clear of the obstacle.

Meanwhile, Volvo’s latest accident avoidance system, called City Safety, is being offered in the new XC60 crossover SUV. It works to prevent fender benders at speeds up to 18 mph by automatically applying the brakes if the system determines the driver isn’t reacting fast enough to avoid hitting a stopped vehicle in its path.

While such technology paves the way for future cars that are able to drive themselves on sensor-embedded “smart” highways, industry analysts remain unconvinced that many motorists will be willing to relinquish control of their vehicles any time soon.

“When we start to look at technologies that can take the helm and steer the vehicle, we have to understand we could be infringing on drivers’ comfort zones, which is the exact opposite of the technology’s intent,” explains Harris’s Stephen Lovett.

According to Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies at the research firm J.D. Power and Associates in Westlake Village, Calif., it’s all a matter of consumers eventually coming to trust the technology. “When they first came out, people didn’t trust antilock brakes – they still pumped the brakes. It took a long learning curve to build the trust that ABS would work as advertised.”

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“We have 14,000 sold dealer orders with the money in the bank,” says Chevy general manager Ed Peper, who’s confident the return of the long-hood, short-deck sports coupe that bowed for the 1967 model year will be a success despite a down market. “Camaro is a shot in the arm needed to make people feel good.”

Bob Lutz, General Motors‘ vice chairman and Camaro’s biggest cheerleader, originally forecast sales of 100,000 annually. But, considering that was when the industry was selling 17.5 million vehicles annually, rather than the 9 million now, even half that “would be on the heavy side,” Peper says.

Chevrolet introduced the Camaro family — LS, LT, RS and SS — to the media last week. And each is swift and sweet, regardless of whether it’s packing the 3.6-liter, 304-horsepower V-6 or 6.2-liter, 420-h.p. (manual, 400 h.p. automatic) V-8. Either can be teamed with 6-speed manual or automatic.

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