earthshift

Modern video games are remarkable achievements, and a far cry from their ancestors in terms of sophistication and realism. This is particularly true of racing or driving games; watch a replay in the likes of Gran Turismo 5 or Forza Motorsport 4  and passers-by might ask you which channel you're watching. Turn back the clock to the genre's formative days, however, and it's hard to imagine how even the most powerful imaginations managed to envision those crude congregations of pixels as cars on... Read Full Story

One of the most exciting new vehicles to be shown at last year’s Villa D’Este Concours was the Aston Martin V12 Zagato , a striking reimagining of the standard V12 Vantage . At the time, it was officially a concept, but the fact that an additional one was built for and competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours seemed to indicate otherwise. Well, it didn’t take long after that for Aston Martin to come clean and say that it will build and sell a limited number of these Anglo-Italian bruisers. Now... Read Full Story

Theoretically, every racecar has the potential to be a championship contender when the team manager and drivers pull off the sheet and smile for the cameras. It isn't until preseason testing is completed and the first race meeting is underway that it becomes apparent if a competition car is a dominator or a dud.   Of course, when a car does turn out to be the latter, there's no shortage of finger-pointing and shouting. But the bottom line is some new racecars are just destined for... Read Full Story

In an interesting departure from talking babies, vaporizing vampires and alter-ego dancing heads, hats off to Chrysler for getting serious, looking at the big picture and sending out a message of hope, goodwill, patriotism and unity during Super Bowl 2012 . Touchingly and toughly narrated by a revered American icon, the “ It’s Halftime in America ” ad managed to not only give weight to our shared history, challenges and concerns but also pointed to a better and brighter future. Though the ad... Read Full Story

There’s nothing like a good rivalry to get a lively debate going. However, allegiances are seldom swapped, regardless of how compelling the arguments that are made may be. Fans of X don’t like Y or its fans, and vice versa. Two areas in which this is eminently evident are cars and sports. Most guys (and a good many gals) have their favorite automakers and their favorite teams. Rare is the devotee of one that gets along with the devotee of another, and in many cases the companies and teams... Read Full Story

If it seems like just last week that we reported on Wald International releasing a Black Bison cosmetic package for a German super sedan (specifically the Porsche Panamera ), that’s because it was just last week . So the Japanese automotive aesthetics enhancement specialists are taking a bit of a breather now, right? Um…no. Instead of taking a powder, Wald International has rolled out a Black Bison package for the new C218-chassis  Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG . But aside from the all-black-all... Read Full Story

As supercars go, the new McLaren MP4-12C is a spectacular performer, even if it isn't the most primal or angry exotic on the market. Its turbocharged 3.8L V8 and carbon fiber monocoque construction make it powerful and light, and a rather large thorn in the side of the likes of the 458 Italia and Gallardo LP570-4 . However, the new McLaren doesn't serve up quite the same world-beater performance that its predecessor, the legendary F1 , did.   Enter Hennessey Performance , stage right... Read Full Story

Ask most longtime motorsports fans what they think of corporate sponsorship in racing, and odds are favorable that they’ll tell you something along the lines of it’s a cancer on the sport, turning drivers into G-rated, emotionally castrated spokesbots and has priced the journeymen and shadetree mechanics out of all but the lowest echelons of vehicular competition. And they’d be right.   However, turning racecars into billboards has also helped the sport progress by helping fund... Read Full Story

Hyundai has been on a tear this last couple years and is continuing on its quest to push around the big boys. This year the Korean juggernaut plans to debut no less than 5 game-day advertisements for the 2012 Super Bowl including the ones featured here. Many of the clips center around American themes, including the Fourth of July, and are a direct shot across the bow to domestic car companies. One of our favorites shows a collective "Rocky" consciousness infecting a Hyundai factory which... Read Full Story

Ahh yes... Super Bowl XLVI is finally here and the long awaited extravaganza of high-budget television advertisements is sure to wow, shock, repulse or delight. This is about the only time that  folks actually look forward to the commercials. There is always a smorgasbord of funny, weird, sexy and quirky 30, 45 and 60 seconds spots. This year Toyota throws a bit of everything into the mix and comes out the gate with a strong showing in their bid to drum up support for the reinvented Toyota... Read Full Story