Crave

Custom car company Italdesign - Giugiaro S.p.A. got ahold of a Ford Mustang and gave it a space-age look to complement the Mustang's already retro style. Italdesign worked with Ford Motor Company to develop the car and have it on display in the Ford booth at the Los Angeles Auto Show. OK, lambo doors aren't particularly space age--that's a common site on modded cars, and they don't add much to the Giugiaro Mustang. The cool part is the smoked-glass windshield, which rises up from the hood to bubble up over the roof and flow … Read more

No stranger to building small cars, Honda trotted out a new concept, dubbed REMIX, at the Los Angeles Auto Show. This car is tiny--barely longer than it is wide--yet Honda says it's an exploration of a practical sports car. Large tires and performance brakes emphasize its sporty character, yet it maintains decent cargo space behind the two seats. The windshield consciously emulates that of a jet fighter, a further sporty design cue. Although the REMIX is only a concept, Honda says it's designed to be fitted with a 4-cylinder engine and a six-speed manual transmission. Judging from the … Read more

Maserati put its MC12 supercar on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show, for no particular reason except it looks really, really good. Maserati only built 50 of the cars, which signaled Maserati's return to racing after more than 35 years. The MC12 won the 24 hours of Spa endurance race two years in a row, and serves as a road legal counterpart to Maserati's FIA GT Championship race cars. The MC12 is powered by a 6-liter V-12 that produces 630 horsepower. It goes from 0 to 62mph (0 to 100kph) in 3.8 seconds and has a … Read more

It's war out there on the open highway. And we're not talking about road rage, either. The true enemy's most feared weapon of choice (to some people, we hear) is the radar gun.

Highway patrol officers still get a good laugh at those puny radar detectors people pathetically tried to use in the '80s. But there's a new toy in town, and it's called the Inforad GPS V3. Available in Europe, as reported by Shiny Shiny, this gadget starts flashing and beeping like a banshee whenever your car approaches a speed camera.

There's just … Read more

It's been all over the news and blogs today. Rather than launching a preemptive strike against North Korea (unless that's their next step), the U.S. government has decided to hit Kim Jong Il where it really hurts: they're cutting off his party-toy and gadget supply. Now that's a major ouch.

Of greater interest to tech-loving Crave readers, however may be the extensive list of Kim Jong Il's luxury preferences listed in the original Associated Press story. This is one dictator who really knows how to get the party started. In fact, I'm guessing … Read more

Volkswagen made its impression on the first morning of the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show by unveiling the latest of its oddly named offerings: the Volkswagen Tiguan crossover SUV. The car is still in the concept stage (thus its exotic interior and color-coded tires in tangerine), but a production model is expected at the end of 2007.

The model on display in L.A. is powered by a "clean TDI" diesel engine, which makes use of BlueTec diesel-emission control technology. Originally introduced by Mercedes-Benz, BlueTec is now jointly promoted by Audi and Volkswagen as well, in an effort … Read more

Just what the world needs: More plasma TVs. Not that we mind having screens, of course (especially if it means lower prices for us).

So we wholeheartedly endorse NEC's move to update its high-end XR line of displays, which range from 42 to 60 inches. Interestingly enough, the changes don't involve the usual visual upgrades for the already-full-featured models: Shiny Shiny says the major difference is less power consumption, which NEC claims will be lowered by 22 percent. Pricing isn't yet known, though you can bet they won't be cheap. But if you hang onto one … Read more

Following the announcement this morning from GM chief Rick Wagoner that Saturn plans to bring to market a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the company continued its hybrid kick with the unveiling of the 2008 Saturn Aura Green Line Hybrid here at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show. The Aura Green Line Hybrid makes use of the same belt alternator system (BAS) technology that we recently saw in the Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, and will deliver a 25 percent increase in fuel economy over the gasoline-only Aura, according to Saturn representatives.

Production of the Aura Green Line Hybrid is scheduled to … Read more

If you're old enough to remember comic books before they were cool, you'll undoubtedly recall these three advertising staples: Sea Monkeys, 500 toy soldiers for something like 50 cents, and the always-popular glasses that could see through clothing.

The Sea Monkeys turned out to be brine shrimp, and the toy soldiers have been declared politically incorrect. But hope shines brightly for the see-through glasses at Northrop-Grumman Space Technology. There, according to Ubergizmo, researchers are working on a technology that "enables one to see right through clothing." Lest you get too excited, however, this is strictly for … Read more