cars

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were nowhere near as many in-car distractions as there are these days. However, unlike cell phones and DVD players, here's one almost anyone will welcome with open arms.

The Star Wars Talking Dashboard Statues (take your pick from Darth Vader, Yoda, and C3PO) are one of the latest offerings from ThinkGeek. The awesomeness is priced at $9.99 per statue.

Part hula girl, part spiritual GPS guide, the statues blurt out famous Star Wars quotes every time you press a button on its base or hit a pothole. … Read more

When the X Prize Foundation announced that it was going to give an award to inventors who can get 100 miles a gallon and win a cross-country race, I thought "so what?"

Full-electric cars like the ones coming from Think and Tesla Motors top that, and so do the hydrogen vehicles that DaimlerChrysler says it will release in 2012 to 2105. Plug-in hybrids also get 100 miles per gallon.

You could even load up a Winnebago with a bunch of lithium-ion batteries and go for the victory. (Such a stunt could also mean dying in a fireball after … Read more

If your bulletproof raincoat, tape-recorder blocker, and surveillance detection device are just not enough to give you peace of mind, this in-car GPS jammer might be just what you're looking for. Once plugged in to your car's 12-volt cigarette lighter port, the device will apparently block all GPS signals in a broadcasting range of 1450 to 1600Mhz--translating into a a 2- to 4-meter radius of GPS anonymity, according to manufacturer Chinavision.

The GPS jammer might not be good enough to protect you from autonomous surveillance drones or spying robotic insects, but at least it will take them longer … Read more

Welcome to Girl on Cars, a new destination for tech-savvy motoring enthusiasts. Here you'll find information (and lots of opinion) on a variety of automotive-related topics, including new car models, aftermarket accessories, design trends, fuel efficiency, and racing.

Beyond news and product reviews, this blog celebrates the lifestyle of cars and car culture. Sneak a peek into exclusive industry events, from new product launches to the making of Hollywood chase scenes.

Readers are encouraged to join in and leave feedback. Half the fun of cars is being able to talk about them!

According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, the semi-classic car featured in Back to the Future may be primed for a limited-run comeback.

DeLorean Motor Co. Vice President James Espey has 200 of the original V-6 engines in stock. While DeLorean Motor Co. still stays in business refurbishing and servicing early-1980s DeLoreans, Espey says they may start building new ones from the stock parts in the next few years.

Don't expect to see new DeLoreans all over the place. If it happens, Espey is quoted as saying new car production will be limited to about 20 per … Read more

Salivation time, ladies and gentlemen. I think I already have something to go at the top of this year's Crave holiday wish list.

The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, which debuted at the 2006 Paris Auto Show, is being shown for the first time in the U.S. at the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance car show this July 31-August 5 as part of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club national convention.

The six-speed, rear-wheel-drive car, which was developed in collaboration with Maserati, has a steel chassis with a carbon fiber body and a 4.7-liter engine capable of 450 horsepower. … Read more

While the rest of the world is driving around listening to compressed music files on home-brewed MP3 discs and iPod tracks broadcast over FM, Sony is betting that there is a market for audiophiles who want a far richer in-car acoustic experience. The company this week released the XAV-W1, the first superaudio CD-compatible (SA-CD) in-car stereo, which is able to play the proprietary Sony format in 5.1-channel surround sound (if you have the right car speaker arrangement).

With a 7-inch LCD screen, the XAV-W1 is also the first in-dash DVD player from Sony, which has to date confined itself … Read more

Think you're safer in an SUV? Think again.

Cars topping the Forbes "Top 20 Most Dangerous Vehicles" list include a crossover-SUV and two pickup trucks.

While Forbes gets too much into the methodology on how its list is compiled, it makes the good point that frequently crashed cars are not necessarily the most dangerous. (They could simply be the most popular among young and inexperienced drivers.)

And boring does not automatically mean safe. The No. 1 car on the Forbes list, the 2007 Buick Rendezvous crossover SUV touted by Tiger Woods in commercials, got only a three-star … Read more

Mini just released all the details on its forthcoming Cooper Clubman, which is scheduled to arrive in Europe later this year and in the States early in 2008. While it might not be in the same league as the stretch Mini limo that we saw earlier this year, the new Mini Cooper Clubman is nearly 10 inches longer than the standard Mini Cooper. It also features a bizzare unique carriage door on the right hand side to allow greater access to its roomier rear seats, as well as a couple of BMW's most recent engine management technologies. Check out … Read more