Top 5 American muscle cars

Americans have always had an obsession with cars – their speed, loud engines and raw power. We’ve dug out the top 5 classic American Muscle cars that embodied these qualities and have become legends among the automotive industry around the world.

Number 5: 1967 Pontiac GTO

The Pontiac GTO was considered the start of the classic muscle car, and in 1967 it had a engine makeover to see it take on a 400 cubic inch enlargement. If you were lucky enough to get your hands on the 81,722 built in ’67, consider yourself lucky to have a classic that pumps 360 hp @ 5100 rpm. For its overall style and “bad ass” appeal we’ve ranked it at number 5.

Random Fact: This car was used in the hit movie XXX starring Vin Diesel (2002)

Image credits: http://static.cargurus.com/

Number 4: 1969 Plymouth roadrunner

This classic was described as “muscle without the bells and whistles”. Stripped of over complicated options, Plymouth decided to make muscle as cheap as possible without sacrificing power. It ended up over taking sales of the GTO by 10,000 units which puts this 390 hp @ 5000 rpm in 4th place.

Random Fact: Plymouth paid Warner Brothers studios $50,000 to use the Roadrunner cartoon character to promote sales

Image credits: http://awesomecarauctions.com/

Number 3: 1968 Dodge Charger R/T

After a spell of dismal sales, Dodge decided to change the styling of the Charger to “coke bottle styling”. In addition to the new style, a performance package was now offered as R/T (Road/Track) which turned an average muscle car into a 425 hp @ 5000 rpm monster. For its sheer power and ingenious redesign it gets the number 3 spot.

Random Fact: When the car was released Dodge wrote, “This is no dream car. It’s a real ‘take-me-home-and-let’s stir-things-up-a-bit’ automobile.”

Image Credits: http://www.2dayblog.com/

Number 2: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427

Everyone has heard of the Corvette, and it still remains an icon of the pure American muscle car era. 1967 was a special year for the Corvette, not only did it pump out a whopping 435 hp @ 5800 rpm, but included leather seating, air conditioning and many other perks. If you owned this car you were at sexy symbol status, and just short of notoriety it falls to number 2.

 Image Credits: http://image.corvettefever.com

Number 1: 1967 Shelby GT500

Why has Eleanor made it to number 1? The Ford Mustang is the icon of muscle cars and with the magic touch of Carroll Shelby, the Mustang took an overhaul to produce a mean road racing champion. In terms of pure styling, Shelby has the winning look hands down. Being famous does has its advantages, especially in this post – the GT500 ranks number 1 on our list for its style, celebrity status and 355 hp. If you forgot why its become famous, see the video below where the GT500 “Eleanor” outruns the police in “Gone in 60 Seconds “

 Image Credits: http://www.online-ford.ru/



Have a favourite American Muscle car that’s not on the list? We value your comments and looking forward to adding your choices to the list of the top American Muscle cars.

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The new Citroen DS3 Racing

Check out the new sporty hatch from Citroen - the DS3 Racing. Based on the DS3 DSport, the car is powered by a BMW-PSA

204bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, front wheel drive with a six-speed manual box. The car goes from 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and has a top speed of 146mph.

Apparently there are only 200 cars available for consumers in the UK. The car costs £23,100 which makes it more costlier than a MINI Cooper JCW.

The car is available in two colour schemes: one with Obsidian black body with sport orange roof and another with a polar white body and carbon grey roof. Which one do you like?

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Honda Civic forums

The Honda Civic was introduced to the US (and the World) by Honda Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan in July 1972. This first model was a 2 door coupe. They introduced the now famous Civic CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) in 1974. This particular model became famous for its fuel efficiency and low emissions.

The Honda Civic became renowned for it's reliability. Another reason (related to the first) the Honda Civic is so popular is it's resale value. The depreciation of this car is very low as compared to other brands in the similar category. Finally, it has become really popular for modification and customization and a community of owners and enthusiasts of modified Civics have developed.

How did I know all of this? Well, a lot of the info came from the Honda website, Wikipedia and honda civics forums. If you are owner of a Civic (any generations) or simply a fan, join Civicforums.com to read all about the latest updates of this great car and also to share ideas with like-minded people. This forum is the largest Honda Civic forums online. It is also a great place to go if you are planning to buy the car.

Going through the forum, I realise that they have categories for each and every type of Honda Civic generation right from the first to the latest (the 8th generation).

The generations are as follows:

- First generation (1973-1979)
- Second generation (1980-1983)
- Third generation (1984-1987)
- Fourth generation (1988-1991)
- Fifth generation (1992-1995)
- Sixth generation (1996-2000)
- Seventh generation (2001-2005)
- Eighth generation (2006 to present)



The latest Honda Civic, The Civic Si coupe, debuted last year and has sold in record numbers and have received awards as well. It received the North American Car of the Year and Motor Trend Car of the Year awards for 2006. With fuel prices on the increase and prices of hybrids out of my reach, this fuel efficient car is my choice.

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Jaguar CX - 75

One of the major complaints about electric cars is that they are so ugly looking and slow. The G-Wiz is often the butt of so many jokes, Jeremy Clarkson in particular like to make fun of the car.

Anyway, the new breed of electric cars are changing people's perception of electric cars. They look sexy and are fast.

I blogged about the Jaguar CX - 75 concept some time back. Here are some pictures of this sexy car from Jaguar.

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Honda FCX emits only water vapour

A car that only emits water vapour - this has been the dream of many people. People have proved it is possible but Honda has actually put a car on the road.



The Honda FCX Clarity is a “dedicated platform hydrogen fuel cell vehicle", that runs on electricity powered by hydrogen, and emits only water vapor and heat into the air.



Unlike hybrid car, it does not use gasoline and is therefore a Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV). The car is certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) and by the EPA as a Tier-2 Bin 1, the lowest possible federal EPA emission rating. It will also receive an EPA Inherently Low Emission Vehicle (ILEV) rating due to its entirely sealed fuel system.

Presently it only comes in one clour, Star Garnet, a unique deep-red tone.

It is certainly not aimed at motorheads who like powerful cars as the car only has a top speed of 100 miles per hour on a test track

Right now, they are not on sale and only a limited number of the FCX Clarity vehicles will be available for lease only in the Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine areas in mid-2008. The lease should cost around $600 per month for three years (including maintenance).

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Nissan Qashqai — the most popular Japanese crossover in Great Britain!

Nissan Qashqai — one of the most popular crossovers in Europe within the next two years should give way in the European car market to the 2nd generation of Qashqai.

Nissan Qashqai — the most popular Japanese crossover in Great Britain!

According to the chairman of board of directors of Renault-Nissan — Mr. Carlos Ghosn, — Japanese concern intend to carry out development of crossover Qashqai of the 2nd generation completely in Great Britain where will be organized assembly of a new city crossover. Experts of Nissan Design Europe located in Paddington take part in creation of design of model, a hardware and motor details for the car develop in Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield. For release of a new Qashqai, Nissan company plans to allocate the sum more than €215 million.

Nissan Qashqai of the 1st generation debuted in the world car market in 2006. As before, Nissan Qashqai is made in Great Britain, at factory in Sunderland. And less than for 3 years Qashqai is sold to worldwide in circulation over 500,000 copies. Restyling only strengthens excellent positions of a crossover in the automobile market. Whether have time to make one million copies?..

For this purpose at Nissan factory in Sunderland (Great Britain), has been entered the 3rd shift jobs. Thanks to it 800 new workplaces have been created. It has been made in reply to proceeding active growth of demand for a popular crossover. Besides social guarantees and the high salary, all workers are insured from accident, and also have the year certificate of modified car insurance if buy a new Nissan Qashqai.

Besides it, Nissan Motor intends to update the crossover Qashqai to Qashqai+2. In connection with a growing demand for this car the company made decision to make one more off-road car. The new 7-seater Qashqai receives the extended base, and also the expanded set of options in comparison with the 5-seater version.

More detailed information on new extended Nissan Qashqai isn't present, but, under forecasts of official news-maker of Nissan, novelty occurrence is expect in the end of this year. Traditionally, the performance car insurance will be given free of charge to the first 100 buyers of new Nissan Qashqai+2.

The additional 3rd shift jobs also allows factory to satisfy demand for the new 7-seater version of a crossover ‘Qashqai+2’ which will be officially presented on a auto show in London next month.

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Toyota FJ Cruiser

Toyota FJ Cruiser

Finding used trucks is no mean feat. For a start you really have to know what you are looking for, and secondly, you have to know where to look for it. We might not be able to help you with the first problem, but if you want to know where to find them, then the internet is your one and only port of call. Simply put, prices online are going to be significantly cheaper if you buy a truck online. It is simple market forces that dictate this situation, with there being plenty of supply being available. As a buyer you have plenty of choice, which should push the prices down.
Obviously you have to make sure that you know what you are looking for. Do your homer work, and work out which vehicles you will be searching for. Once you know this, it will make it easier for you to search on the net.
Once you know what you are after, all you have to do is to search for used trucks on the internet. You should find plenty of different sites to give you that choice you will need. From this point, simply look up the trucks that you are interested in, and do your homework. If you choose carefully and buy the right truck, you could end up making some good savings. The internet is a great place to buy any motor vehicle, but trucks are particularly affordable online.

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Most Valuable Car Brand in the World: Toyota

In their 6th annual ‘Brandz’ release, Millward Brown included a list of the top 10 most valuable car brands in the world. Considering Toyota’s recent large scale recalls, you might be surprised to find them the top of the list – with an estimated value of some USD $24.2bn. Millward Brown put this down to the continued popularity of Toyota’s highly fuel-efficient Prius model. The lesson to be learned from this, then, is that minor issues such as brakes that don’t quite work and accelerator pads that can’t be released are relatively unimportant, easily compensated for by a lower petrol bill and a cheap tires.
With first place going to Japan, European car manufacturers BMW and Mercedes Benz claimed second and third place respectively, with the first and only American brand (Ford) entering at a modest eight position, which must be worrying considering the amount of money that is being poured into the ailing American car giants.

The full top ten list looks as follows:

1. Toyota
2. BMW
3. Mercedes Benz
4. Honda
5. Porsche
6. Nissan
7. Volkswagen
8. Ford
9. Audi
10. Lexus

Statistics shows that there is an increased demand for Toyota car finance, meaning that people are quite keen on purchasing Japanese cars, especially the Prius. Millward Brown also noticed that smaller Korean car manufacturers have made a massive leap during the last year. It's likely that in a couple of years time brands like Hyundai will easily be near to the top of this list. With new green models in the pipeline and brand recognition increasing worldwide it sounds quite plausible, however, when it comes to Japanese brands, it will be difficult for anyone to displace them from the top 10.

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New Generation of Civic

FleetMatics leads in the market when it comes to the development of GPS tracking systems which are meant for use in commercial fleet vehicles. The new application comes in a variety of features which are designed in order to offer the fleet owners with the most powerful tools for a customized performance. In this kit, one can at a great deal save on the cost, boost the production levels as well as enhance on the revenue generation. This application ought to show the public that the company is greatly committed at providing the fleet industry with the best in the market.
The new mobile application for fleet tracking is meant to offer portability. The features in it are meant to offer the user with a host of services. They can view the location of the vehicle anytime the wish, view any reports, alerts as well as dashboards when they feel like. In other cases, one is also able to view the transactions being carried out using the vehicle’s fuel cards. This application offers a great time in the management of a fleet whenever you are in the office or outside in the field handling other duties right from the comfort of your smart-phone.

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Nissan Leaf

Taking into consideration that you will have to pay about $25,000 to buy one, is the new Nissan Leaf electric car a good buy?
Before purchasing an electrically powered vehicle of any kind you should be aware of how this car will differ from the standard gas powered car. For starters, while you will not be constantly stopping at the gas pump to fill up, you will need a home-charging station that should cost in the neighborhood of $2,200. Over the long run, this will prove to be a favorable exchange. Recharging the battery will come with a cost, but compared to buying gas the price is hardly worth mentioning. The power source for the Leaf is a lithium-ion battery pack—the first of its kind.

In many ways, the Leaf is a test case. Sure other electric cars are on the market and various ones have been tested previously, but this Nissan is designated to be mass produced and made available (affordable) for the average American. Speaking of a few things to get used to with electric vehicles verses gas burning ones, here is one. When the battery pack is fully charged, the Leaf should be able to cover about 100 miles before the unit wears down and must be recharged. Drivers accustomed to driving long distances may find this a major inconvenience.
Recharging from the home station is estimated to take between four and eight hours. However, a commercial station set up for charging could reduce that time to 30minutes. While 30 minutes is much better than the time it would take to charge at home, the time period is much longer than it takes to pump your tank full of gas. Are you ready to make that adjustment? It’s a question you should ask before buying a Leaf or any other electric car.

Another drawback to a totally electric vehicle is that there is no backup source of energy to propel you on your way should the battery malfunction or simply wear down and need recharging. Of course, predicting where you will be and how much battery time you will need doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does take more planning than most of us are doing with our current vehicles. This is something that hybrid owners don’t have to concern themselves with. However, it is important to remember that many Americans drive less than a hundred miles a day and for them the 100-mile driving distance per charge would seldom come into consideration.
Nissan is making the car available in SV and SL trim and many of the amenities are the same as you find on any of the company’s other vehicles (16-inch alloy wheels, key less entry, cruise control, adjustable seats and a spacious cabin). This electric car is designed to mesh into the current environment of car design, not standout as an experimental aberration.

If you the buyer are willing to make a few sacrifices/adjustments, and the Leaf proves to be a success then this electric car might very well be a good buy. With electric charging stations becoming much more prevalent, charging will also get easier as time goes on. There are lots of benefits to make the switch.

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New Honda Civic

Honda company presented a new Honda Civic Type R (sedan and coupes) of following generation intended for the US car market. The cars executed in stylistics of the concept cars with the same brand name, shown in the middle of January on a Motor Show in Detroit, will be offered in several versions: usual gasoline engines, supereconomic «HF version», hybrid power motor, the gas motor and charged «Si variant».

New Honda Civic for the US Car Market

Standard coupes and sedans Civic, also as well as HF version, will be equipped with the former 1,8-litre four-cylinder motor (140HP), working together with a five-step automatic transmission. Difference of HF only available special additional aerodynamic elements and system «Eco Assist» which was offered before only for hybrids: Honda CR-Z and Honda Skydeck.

According to representatives of the Japanese company, standard version of Civic with such power-plant became more economic and in a city cycle now consume about 6 litres of fuel.

Honda Civic Hybrid of following generation is equipped with a 110-strong power-plant combining the 1,5-litre gasoline engine, the electromotor, a variator and the complete set of lithium-ionic accumulators. According to the manufacturer, the average expense of such car makes 5,2 litres on 100 km of run. It approximately on 0,5 is less, than at the previous hybrid models by Honda Civic.

Charged version Si received the 2,4-litre motor capacity (200HP). The engine works together with a six-step mechanical gear box. Dynamic characteristics of such car are not specified yet.

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New Honda CR-V

Honda Motor continues to prepare 4th generation of popular crossover Honda CR-V for a debut. The some details about new crossover are already known, for example a new CR-V on 40 mm becomes shorter, the width will be former, and height reduce by 5 mm. Occurrence of the newest 4-cylinder engine should become one of the appreciable moments.

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Legend & Elysion must have a hybrids!

Honda Motor prepares changes in a ruler of the cars to give more attention to release of harmless and accessible at the price of cars, newspaper Nikkei informs.

Legend & Elysion must have a hybrids!

Two expensive cars — Honda Legend sedan and Honda Elysion minivan — will be stoped. In the Japanese car market, since 2011 sales of the classical version of Honda Civic will be stopped, on sale there will be only a hybrid version.

Honda Legend remains on sale only in the US car market under Acura RL brand name.

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Toyota GRMN iQ Racing Concept

Toyota Motor together with tuning studio Gazoo Racing transformed a midget car Toyota iQ into the real race car.
Toyota GRMN iQ Racing Concept not only threateningly looks thanks to the developed aerodynamic body-kit, 17-inch wheels and an aggressive 3-coloured colouring, but also is really ready to extreme driving. The 4-cylinder motor develops 116HP!
The interior of Toyota iQ Racing Concept also looks as race bolide: here there are sports seats with 4-dot belts, a framework of safety and sports accessories, aluminium pedals and so forth.

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Toyota iQ EV

Toyota company presents on Motor Show in Geneva the electric version of a city hatchback iQ. According to representatives of the Japanese manufacturer, the car prototype already passed tests for the European roads and next year, predictably, becomes accessible to clients. Besides, in the near future electric iQ appears on the US car market as Scion brand.

2011 Toyota iQ EV

Toyota hatchback iQ EV is equipped by the small electromotor which receives energy from the complete set of li-ionic accumulators located under a floor, on that place where usual cars have a fuel tank. Such arrangement of batteries as declare in the Japanese company, does not influence free space neither in car interior, nor on volume of a luggage compartment. A cruising range of Toyota iQ — 105 km. Time of full charge of accumulators is not specified yet.

Toyota Motor entered into with the US firm Tesla the agreement according to which last develops for Japanese engines, batteries and various components for electric versions of cars. Top management of Toyota Motor also confirmed that till the end of 2012 on the car market leave two serial electrocar, including the compact crossover RAV4. Such crossover can overcome without additional charge about 240 km, and its cost makes approximately $40,000US.
Besides an electromobile iQ, on Auto Salon in Geneva also it will be presented hybrid concept Yaris HSD, compact van Prius and a prototype of sport coupe FT-86 Concept.

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The big Prius

Toyota Motor presented on Detroit Motor Show compact minivan Prius which received an additional prefix V. According to representatives of the Japanese manufacturer, the novelty have a 50% more place in a baggage compartment, than at usual Prius.

Toyota Prius: from Hybrid to Minivan

The novelty overall length — 4,615 mm, width — 1,775 mm, the height — 1,574 mm, and reaches the size of a wheelbase of 2,778 mm. It on 115, 30, 74 and 78 mm accordingly more than at usual Toyota Prius Coupe. Volume of a luggage compartment of a compact minivan of Toyota Prius V — 971 litre. Besides, it is possible to prolong a loading platform for transportation of large-sized cargoes, completely combining a back of an armchair of the front passenger.

Also, a new minivan Toyota Prius have a new central extension housing. The form of the extension housing first of all changed, the lever of a gear box and the starting engine operation button have been transferred hardly above, the new block of climate control, other air vents of system of ventilation, and also new multimedia system by Entune with advanced navigation.
In the technical plan the compact minivan differs nothing from a Prius hatchback. According to the manufacturer, in a city cycle fuel consumption the compact minivan makes 5,6 litres/100 km, and in mixed — 5,8 litres.
In the US car market of sale of a new Toyota Prius begin since summer of current year.

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