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Will somebody bring him back his money please… and his Maybach, and his Denali, and his Lamborghini. The man born aShawn Carter has taken his rap career and propelled it to a level of billionaire and entrepreneur.

In the making of his music videos, Jay-Z has driven pretty much every over-priced import roadster on the road today. Like a top-shelf champagne his autos are only the best. His real life is not very different. As an ambassador to GMC and an owner of Maybach’s and Lexus vehicles, Jay-Z has no shortage of hip rides. In fact, he could probably have two different cars for every day of the week.

Show Me What You Got



Jay-Z’s taste for one of a kind vehicles leads him to schedule very public test drives – on the sets of his music videos. Go back a few years to “Show Me What You Got” featuring Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and two rare roadsters: a Ferrari F430 Spider and Pagani Zonda Roadster.



In real life, Mr. Z rides around the streets of Manhattan in his Maybach 62S – not as rare as those featured in his videos, but still a collector’s item in its own right. In his video for Lost Ones, Jay rocks a Maybach Exelero Concept:





It’s a Hard Knock Life



And when jay heads back to his roots of Brooklyn he keeps it low-key, by rollin’ through the hood in his Bentley Azure. This luxury ride left such an impression on Jay that he traded in his old school Lexus he once rocked in the 90′s for a Bentley of his own.



Denali’s on the Reg



Now Jay is not all about imports, he respects the domestic brands as well. Back in 2007, the artist joined forces with GM to produce a special edition GMC Yukon Denali. This collaboration lead to the creation of a concept Yukon Denali in ‘Jay-Z Blue’. The car was unveiled in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show, at a pre-opening party held by GMC where top celebrities appeared with 17 new GM vehicles, concept cars and classics.

From Bentley to Denali, there’s no way Jay-Z is without a way to drive to he set in style and class. Now, who gonna run this town tonight?

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Why go under the road, when you can go over? Via TreeHugger – What if there was a way to get most of the benefits of a subway, but without the costs of digging up all those tunnels? The Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co. thinks it might be able to do just that with a concept it calls the 3D Fast Bus (which has also been called the straddling bus), and kind of giant bus/train that straddles the street and allows cars to drive right under it. This means that it isn’t slowed down by traffic and it doesn’t add to traffic either.



At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.

The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.

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What’s with all the Hybrid Hype anyway? In today’s climate, it’s almost uncool to not supply your customers, whether they be car buyers, home appliance shoppers or Whole Foods regulars, with non “green” materials. Pretty much every major auto maker either has a hybrid car already on the market, or will have one within the next year (for the 2011 – 2012 model years).

But with every Joe-blow engineer rushing out their idea for a hybrid drive train, or the smart auto makers buying the technology from someone smarter, there will be no shortage of hybrid car variants soon. Are we really getting a quality vehicle, and most importantly are we getting savings at the pump?



Don’t get us wrong, Automopedia loves fuel efficient, technologically advanced rides. And now that the tech is out there, auto makers can take advantage of it at a good rate, for both their wallets and yours. It’s not just a flash in the pan marketing scheme, hybrid sales are going up. There is a question of affordability, up front. Back in 2005, a CNN Money article exposed the larger price tags of hybrid variants by Japanese auto makers compared to their gas-online siblings. In today’s hybrid world, companies like Ford/Lincoln and Honda are selling hybrids at around the same price as the non-hybrid versions. That 2005 article was also published for the Government decided to give larger cash incentives to those purchasing green vehicles.



Are hybrid cars perfect? Not at all. But no vehicle is, not even KITT from Knight Rider or the General Lee. A hybrid vehicle requires different, sometimes more expensive maintenance than an regular internal combustion engine. With more hybrids coming out, auto makers will be looking for less-expensive alternatives to materials (cheaper parts, that is). John Viera, Ford’s director of sustainability and environmental policy, said to HybridCars.com: “We feel that outside the communication and the hype, there is no silver bullet. There’s no fuel type or technology, including electric, that is the perfect solution.”



And in the end, no matter what the dealer claims (40, 100, 230 miles on a single charge) only real world tests during your daily commute will prove what a Mazda, Toyota, Chevy or Audi hybrid is really made of.

Are you saving the earth? No. Are you helping? Probably. Are you saving at the gas pump? Indeed – though maybe only to put back into the higher cost of maintenance/insurance. One fact seems certain, hybrids are here to stay. With every major car company investing millions upon millions in this technology, someone’s going to want a payoff at the end of the quarter. The question remains, can you afford it after the hype is gone?

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The folks over at io9.com have given us the chance to create our very own sonic boom, from the comfort of home (maybe the back yard would be safer.



It’s quite simple, really, as long as you have a grasp of advanced physics. In basic terms – “A sonic boom is the shock wave that is produced when an object breaks the sound barrier.”

Now sound, in air, can only move 700 miles per hour…but an object can be pushed much faster than this. The sound of a sonic boom you hear is the actual barrier of sound breaking. Jet fighters achieve this with mass amounts of propulsion. How can you in your studio apartment? “When someone uses a whip, they bring their arm up and then down quickly. This creates a wave, and that wave travels down the length of the whip. It takes a lot of force to make the solid handle and heavy base of the lash move fast. The end of the whip is tapered and small. Since only a little energy is lost as the wave travels down the whip, a massive amount of momentum is channeled into a very small amount of leather. The makes the whip move faster and faster the more slender the whip becomes – the tip of whip moves incredibly fast – fast enough to break the sound barrier.”

No bull whip lying about? Sure you don’t have one, you kinky freak you. How about a towel, or some bed linens? Yes, you too can break the sound barrier by whipping around a towel like LeBron was coming to town or a bed sheet to get that one-night-stand up in the morning. Get enough momentum and you will break the barrier with your Spongebob sheets.

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One talented Rutgers University Alumnus goes from graduation to the race track. Scott Mingay is a graduate of the Rutgers School of Engineering, and only a few months out of the gate he’s already working on high performance Formula vehicles. Mingay isn’t working on the full course circuit yet, but he’s on his way, as an engineer at the Skip Barber Racing School in Lakeville, Conn. – a company that operates racing and driving schools nationwide.



The Rutger’s Grad took part in his school racing squad. Yes, Rutgers not only rules for being located in The Garden State, but also for having a small automotive engineering team. “It’s the single best thing I’ve ever decided to do at this point in my life,” Mingay said. “Every senior had not one but multiple job offers.” The group, open to all students, competes against other colleges from around the world by engineering, building, and ultimately racing an open cockpit formula style race car.

“It’s the best hands-on experience any student could ever get, no matter what their major is, because it’s real world,” says club adviser Mark Sproul, manager of engineering computing services at the Rutgers School of Engineering. “You’ve got to build the thing, you’ve got a deadline, and failure is not an option. It’s not about getting a grade. It’s about getting it done.”

The only club I was a part of at another NJ University revolved around lots of empty bottles of something called Capt. Morgan, and glass pipes. Hmm… maybe that wasn’t an official University sanctioned activity. Interested in a future working with high performance engines? Check out your local colleges – it’s never too late to go back to school. If Rodney Dangerfield can do it, so can you.

Source: Rutgers Focus

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They say Trust Doesn’t Rust – However, some old cars do. But a classic 1964 Chevy (sorry, Chevrolet) Impala can still look glamorous, even when it rusts away thanks to the sweet salty humid air in The Big Easy. It’s not just any car you’d find at some random New Orleans used car dealer – this ’64 Impala may disintegrate, but its glory will never fade.





The car comes from a Jalopnik reader named Jim, who lives near the French Quarter of New Orleans. According to Jim; “This ’64 Impala is driven regularly by an elderly lady who lives right on Bourbon Street, but in the relatively quiet, residential end of the French Quarter. It has been a fixture of the French Quarter in New Orleans for decades. It has even shown up in a coffee table book of N.O. and been snapped innumerable times by tourists. One day a few years ago I saw her out on the street crying (it was heartbreaking!) as the Chevy was being towed off and I thought that was the end of it. But it showed back up a week or two later and has been out and about ever since. I doubt the rear driver side window has ever been cleaned – it’s nearly opaque.”

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We live in a time of uncertain doubt – or certain doom. Something is certain, or is it? In this world of hybrid cars and over-sized eye glasses, not all hope is lost, because the model specific car logo is making a return. Hyundai’s new “luxury” vehicle, Genesis, is trying to steal Bentley’s rich (and we mean wealthy) heritage with a winged logo. Mustang has always had its own Pony, and RAM is going from just another truck to its own brand. The model-specific logo is having its day in the spotlight – but is this an excellent use of branding in advertising, or will things just get confusing for the not-so-savvy?

The Classic Pony – Ford Mustang


When Ford introduced Mustang back in 1964, a new era of muscle & pony car fandom began. Ford slapped the classic galloping horse logo onto each and every Mustang model. As much as the Blue Oval itself has morphed over the decades – Mustang has barely changed. The horse has gone from black to chrome, and is sometime in front of a red, white & blue banner. But hey, if it’s ain’t broke why fix it?

Hyundai’s Genesis Logo Looks Like Bentley’s


Hyundai’s new luxury sedan and coupe, Genesis, can cost well over ,000. 40K for a Hyundai? The experts agree this vehicle is up there with Mercedes and Audi. More than a few former BMW drivers have been taken for a test drive in the all new Korean auto, and switched over. Why not have all that class at a lower price – hell you don’t save it by spending it. But the vehicle-specific Genesis logo looks oddly familiar. Hmm…can’t quite put my finger on it. However, will anyone out there honestly confuse a Hyundai with a Bentley?

Prius Makes Its Own Make


Toyota’s hybrid car, Prius, just celebrated its 10th anniversary on the road. The Japanese auto maker also announced a plug-in variant coming next year. There have also been rumors of Toyota starting up an entire hybrid-only segment, and might use “Prius” as their make, instead of the model name.

RAM Goes From Model To Brand


Another auto maker going from single entity to full-out brand is RAM. The Dodge truck segment will soon be part of  Fiat-owned CDJ (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep) line-up. Much like how GM has it’s own truck line with GMC. Expect two or three separate RAM trucks, of medium, large and super-sized stature. Welcome to the CDJR.

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One resort in Stuttgart, Germany has a pretty good idea of what to do with those turned-in clunkers. Use them as part of their design. Want to christen that marriage in the back seat of a 1971 Cadillac Coupe DeVille? Keep it classy with a stay in the V8 Hotel. Car nuts and gearheads alike will enjoy the new inspired guesthouse features several theme rooms based off a love for autos. From car beds to luxury automotive surroundings and a trip down Roue 66 – it all can be yours at the V8 Hotel. Just keep in mind… you can check out any time you like, but you may never leave.



Many of the hotel rooms include a bed built from the chassis of classic cars. These include “Americana” images like the Indian Motorcycles and Rebel Without A Cause prints. Others impersonate a drive-in movie theater or the childhood bedroom of a car fanatic.



Not all of the rooms are strictly car themed. Other accommodations include a V8 Camper room, complete with “love swing hammock” – we recommend cleaning that off before you sit on it. Single visitors will be stuck with a less-than-exciting “classic Bauhaus” design.



Other rooms, including the Zeppelin Suite, are three stories tall, complete with balcony, and contain tens of thousands of dollars worth of Chachkies.

Source: WCF

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The greatest police agency in the world, the NYPD, is going from mean cars to Green cars. There are currently 3,000 gas-guzzling Chevy Impalas patrolling the streets of New York City. Not like it’s hard enough conserving fuel with all that stop-and-go traffic. But there are more and more hybrid patrol cars hitting Big Apple’s roads. 76 Nissan Altima hybrids are now on the force, along with 30 (of an upcoming 102) Ford Fusion hybrids.



Heir Mayor Bloomberg stated that the hybrid vehicles use less fuel and emit fewer pollutants into the air we breathe. The long term plan is to ensure that all the patrol cars are environment friendly vehicles in order to reduce the city’s carbon footprint 30% by the year 2017.

According to EPA estimates, the Ford Fusion 41 miles per gallon – which is more than double the gas mileage of the Impala patrol car.



Source: Green Packs

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An important milestone in every young person’s life is getting their driver’s license. For young people, getting their driver’s license is a big step to adulthood. Although driving a vehicle means more freedom, responsibility, and independence, it also comes with a number of costs, particularly the cost of auto insurance. Young drivers, particularly young teen males, are faced with high car insurance quotes. The reason that young drivers tend to receive higher insurance quotes is that the insurance companies have rated them as high risk drivers.
High risk drivers are drivers that are at a higher risk of making a claim or having a claim filed against them. When insurance companies rate drivers, they will rely on statistics to determine their risk. For instance, a 2005 report by the CDC revealed that “although teens accounted for only 10% of the population, 12% were involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents. As well, 4,500 teen deaths were a result of injuries sustained during an automobile accident and 400,000 teen drivers suffered nonfatal injuries.” Much of the reasoning behind such high statistics is a teen’s lack of driving experience, increased likelihood of taking more risks while driving, and they tend to violate more traffic laws such as speeding. Therefore, the car insurance quotes reflect the risk.
Although it may seem disheartening to learn that young drivers receive higher car insurance quotes there are a number of measures that can be taken to reduce the costs of young driver auto insurance. Below are a number tips to reducing young driver car insurance quotes:
Online Auto Insurance Quotes: The internet is a great source to locating cheaper auto insurance for teens. There are auto insurance resource websites and insurance websites that provide a free online insurance search tool that allows users to acquire several insurance quotes from a number of different auto insurance providers. Users just submit some personal details such as their ZIP code, age, gender, make, model, and year of the vehicle. Once they have “clicked” the submit button, it is just a matter of seconds before they receive several auto insurance quotes.
Auto Insurance Discount Incentives: When purchasing car insurance, it is important to take advantage of all discount offers. Such insurance policy incentives can include: a discount for teen drivers who have taken and completed a defensive driver’s program, a discount for maintaining a high grade average such as an ‘A’ average, a discount for maintaining low mileage, fuel efficient vehicle discount such as driving a hybrid car, discounts for installing anti-theft devices and safety devices such as airbags and motorized seatbelts.
Type of Vehicle: The type of car that young drivers drive will affect the cost of their insurance premiums. For instance, cars that are at a high risk of theft such as sports cars will cost more to insure. Teens can lower their insurance premiums by driving an older car that is at a low risk of getting stolen.
By taking the time to find out the factors that are taken into account when determining the price of an auto insurance policy taking steps to mitigate those factors, researching insurance options, and taking advantage of the available discount incentives, young drivers can greatly reduce the price they pay for their car insurance.
Related posts:The Safest Drivers in the Country20% Discount on DriversEd.com ProgramsFewer Drunk Drivers, But 16.3% Of Night Drivers Stoned

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