Cannonball: Wall Street Bankers Partake in Road Rally as Performance Bonus

If you're an investment banker, how do you unwind from the stresses of derivative swaps, ethics investigations, and a weakened economy? The answer, it seems, is to blitz your way through Vermont in an expensive supercar along with 13 of your buddies -- and inevitably, get busted by the fuzz. Reports are still somewhat sketchy, but it appears several top-performing investment bankers from an offshore investment company were rewarded with a special road trip inspired by the Cannonball Run. A road trip from New York City to Montreal was arranged, allowing participants to view the recent Canadian Grand Prix. Over 14 high-performance vehicles, including...

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FEATURES: Eight Great Volkswagen-Italdesign Collaborations(1986)

1986 Volkswagen Machimoto Many have tried to meld the stability of an automobile with the open-air sensation of a motorcycle, but few attempted to do so like Italdesign did with the 1986 Machimoto concept. Using the 1.8-liter, 16-valve I-4 from the then-current GTI, the Machimoto was a low-slung, topless speedster with unusual rear wheel skirts that were de rigeuer on '80s show cars. The Machimoto's true claim to fame, however, lurked within the cabin. Instead of traditional seating, Giugiaro called for two banks of saddle seating, allowing the driver -- along with seven passengers -- to straddle the seat as if it were a motorcycle. At the...

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Chevrolet Volt Headed to China as a Buick in 2011

Buick's Chinese division will be adding another member to its lineup next year: a rebadged Chevrolet Volt. Destined to share sheetmetal with the European-market Opel Ampera, according to GM-filed Chinese patent images, going the Buick route in China is likely GM's safest bet. The tri-shield marque performs especially well in the Middle Kingdom and a Buick-badged Volt/Ampera would supplement the already-available Excelle and Regal sedans, also known as the Opel Astra and Insignia, respectively, in other parts of the world. The currently unnamed Buick-branded Volt will be assembled at GM's Hamtramck plant, imported to China in the first half...

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Rent A Racer: Audi Race Experience Program Puts You in Race-Spec R8

Forget the fantasy baseball camp -- if you've got a good chunk of change at hand, we'd recommend signing up for Audi's Race Experience program, which will ultimately put you behind the wheel of a race-prepped R8 LMS on the famed Nürburgring. The program, crafted in partnership with Team Joest, essentially allows participants to play race car driver for a day. After a series of driving lessons (including earning a current racing license), participants will field one of two Joest-owned R8 LMS cars in a VLN race on the 'Ring. Joest and Audi Sport will provide everything else needed to go racing, including tires, fuel, a pit crew, telemetry -- and,...

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Ford’s Sync 911 Assist feature, incorporated within its Sync connectivity system, works to automatically contact emergency services should the driver become involved in an accident. A new revision may make it even easier for first responders to quickly locate the vehicle. As it had in the past, Sync 911 Assist ties into the Bluetooth phone connection incorporated with the Sync system. In the event of an airbag deployment or if the fuel pump shutoff is triggered, Sync 911 uses the phone’s service, automatically places an emergency call, and bypasses intermediary call centers to directly connect the driver to an emergency responder. Previously,...

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etro Repeat: BMW 328 Coupe Wins 2010 Mille Miglia

Seventy years after a BMW 328 first won the event, a 328 Touring Coupe managed to win this year's 1000-mile Mille Miglia race in Italy. Despite the car's age (it rolled off the line back in 1940), drivers Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani suffered no technical issues, although arriving at the event was itself a feat. As was the case back in 1940, the BMW wasn't trucked to the starting line, but driven nearly 300 miles from the company's museum in Munich, Germany, to the checkpoint in Brescia, Italy. Such was the case for the 328 piloted by Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Lietner that ultimately finished third. Although the cars proved reliable, the...

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