More Crazy Russian Dashcam Videos

Dashcams are becoming increasingly popular across the globe. Photo credit: Steven Symes

Anyone who is a big auto enthusiast knows Russians love their dashcams. There are a number of reasons why this is, including that they use it for evidence against the prevalent insurance fraud in the country, to help identifying would-be carjackers and for protection against unlawful actions by the police.

The Aston Martin Rapide Wagon

Before any of you start having a heart attack and go visit your local Aston Martin dealership to see this car in person, let me tell you that the car you see pictured above is a custom, one-off job ordered by an Aston Martin collector. The collector worked with Bertone, who is famous for modifying these exotic rides from England, turning a stock Rapide S into a high performance wagon.

The Irrelevance of "Buy American Only"

2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Photo courtesy General Motors

I remember when I was a kid there was a huge push in the United States against Japanese vehicles. My family formerly owned a big Ford LTD station wagon that was a hunk of junk, so there was little love for domestic cars in our household. In fact all but one car we owned were Japanese and were super reliable. I would watch the news at night and see videos of rallies at different domestic car dealerships across the country where people literally bashed in Toyota Camrys and Honda Civics with baseball bats and monster trucks as a way of taking out their frustration for what American automakers claimed was "unfair business practices." At the time I was puzzled about why people were so outraged.

Is Buying a Smart Fortwo a Smart Idea?

2013 smart forjeremy, a winged version of the fortwo. Photo courtesy Daimler Group

I remember several years ago the huge fury of enthusiasm Daimler whipped up here in the United States just before introducing its smart fortwo mini-car. It's a subtle yet significant marketing strategy that Daimler does not capitalize the first letters in "smart" or "fortwo" as if to stress the diminutive nature of the car. Conversely, BMW insists on capitalizing all of the letters in "MINI" like it has some complex with building mini-cars, which would explain why MINIs have been steadily growing in size over the past several years.

The Ten Most Annoying (And Dangerous) Driving Practices

Photo credit: Bud Adams, stock.xchng

Everyone who drives around a city for any period of time knows there are other drivers who do things that are damn annoying. I'm sure we can all list off our driving pet peeves, especially after a long rush hour commute. The problem is that some of these annoying habits are actually pretty dangerous, for the person doing them as well as any occupants in their car and in other cars around them. These are the ten most annoying driving habits (according to yours truly) that everyone should work hard to avoid.

Koenigsegg is Teasing Something...

Swedish automaker Koenigsegg makes some of the most amazing production cars in the world, and now it's teasing something good (read: carbon fiber) for the Geneva Motor Show 2013. Automakers usually tease new vehicles either by showing a silhouette of the car or a closeup of one part. Koenigsegg has chosen to show a cryptic closeup. All we get for now is some exterior part of a car that shows off carbon fiber with a clear coat and yellow racing stripes. The company is inviting everyone to celebrate 0 - 100 -10 with it at the show. Let the speculation begin!

The 2014 BMW 3-Series Gran Turismo: An Economy Car Redesigned

BMW has been playing with a version of their sedans, what they're calling a "GT" or "Gran Turismo." First there was the 5-Series Gran Turismo, which looks and drives like a 5-Series with a bloated rear end. Honda copied the idea with its Crosstour (it used to be the Accord Crosstour, but that was changed).