car

The idea of a car-board black box doesn't bother us, despite the obvious issues of data privacy and commentary on modern society. We are, however, offended by another aspect: aesthetics.

Just take a look at the most recent version from Gadget Universe. Would you really want to mount one of these things on your dash or in the rear window of your car? It's almost as bad as a dog with a bobbing head.

Sure, it's possible that your recorded evidence could come in handy after an accident. But what if you were at fault because your … Read more

It's not exactly the highest tech, but many of humankind's greatest advances have come with few moving parts. We think this is one of them: the "Pad Concept" baby car seat.

This ingenious invention allows frazzled parents to change their kids' diapers while they're still in the seat. The seat reclines and swivels, turning it into an instant changing station that can be positioned for easy access. If you don't have children, this won't sound very interesting, but those of us who do could well find this a life-changing (and Huggies-changing) experience.

It'… Read more

Tintin, a boy journalist featured in a popular series of comic books and cartoons, drove and rode in a wide variety of cars throughout his adventures. We were just e-mailed the URL of a Web site that not only shows each car as drawn in the comic books, but also includes pictures--in most cases--of the real car that the comic car is based on. Just click a thumbnail on the All Tintin Cars page (or Toutes les autos de Tintin, for you purists), and two pop-up windows show the original comic and a photo of the real car. As Tintin … Read more

Scion, Toyota's ultrahip brand, used the second morning of the Chicago Auto Show to launch the second incarnation of its hugely popular Scion xB. The boxy urban utility vehicle gets a makeover inside and out for its 2008 model year, with an all-new external profile, a bigger engine, bigger wheels, and some nice-to-have interior tech features. With rounded corners, wraparound headlights, and more sheet metal than its predecessor (1 foot longer, 3 inches wider, and 1 inch shorter), the 2008 xB has nearly eight more cubic feet than the previous-generation xB. To move its newly sculpted carcass around, the … Read more

Well, at least the marketers of this in-car video system made some kind of attempt to make their product seem road-safe: They portrayed it on the passenger side, not the driver's.

Nice try, but we seriously doubt that the "Sun Visor TV/DVD Theater" could be ignored by anyone in the car, especially the driver sitting right next to it. It's not that we have anything against video entertainment on the road; we'd love to have a 7-inch LCD and FM transmitter like this one seen on Red Ferret, especially for extended trips, and it … Read more

If you're not interested in going back to the future by splashing out on a new DeLorean DMC-12, then you might consider bringing the future back home with you by bidding on eBay Motors for a copy of the futuristic Lexus that Tom Cruise thrashed around in the movie Minority Report.

According to the seller, the 2054 model-year car, which is one of only three made by Lexus, is about the same size as a Chrysler 300 and has only 38 miles on it since it was built. Curiously, it boasts a six-cylinder Chevy engine--which is 47,000 miles … Read more

Fed up with the withering death-stares we were getting from other drivers on the streets of San Francisco, we decided to take our 2007 Ford Expedition review car somewhere more welcoming. We found exactly what we were looking for among the tractor trailers and disused warehouses of an industrial estate just south of the city. There, we could just sit with the Expedition's 5.4-liter V-8 idling away and feel right at home next to other pieces of mammoth machinery.

We did have a few more creature comforts than the other truckers around us, however. The Expedition comes with … Read more

I'm guessing this contraption is geared toward the burgeoning demographic of well-moneyed executives who loved their race car-shaped beds when they were kids and still haven't gotten over their affinities for automorphic furniture. This little gem of a desk is shaped just like a Mini, although the dimensions of the desk actually look more spacious than those of the pint-sized novelty car that inspired it. There's even a stereo in the "dashboard."

You can customize just about everything: desk top, color, tires, and license plates. For that last one, I recommend "CORPRT HO."… Read more

We were let loose today in the hills outside of Los Angeles behind the wheel of Mazda's new CX-9 midsize crossover SUV. The CX-9, which is the biggest vehicle ever to come out of Mazda's Hiroshima plant, follows Mazda's CX-7 into the crowded crossover market, and is designed to appeal to that growing segment of customers in need of seven seats (how did we ever manage with just five?). Unlike many other seven-seaters we've seen, the CX-9's third row of seats will be standard on all models, and will not be removable.

If the CX-9 … Read more