It looks like you won't be getting any custom luggage or wallet with your new Aston-Martin anytime soon. The rumors that LVMH, the $14 billion dollar conglomerate that owns such notable brands as Moet & Chandon champagne, Glenmorangie scotch, TAG Heuer watches and the Louis Vitton fashion label, will purchase Ford's Aston-Martin are in the company's words, "pure rubbish."

A company spokesman states that LVMH will not be the name announced when Ford finishes assessing the four serious bids for the automaker that are currently on the table. When the price was announced, nearly $800 million US, LVMH felt that was way too high and ended any serious consideration to purchase Aston-Martin.

The denial by LVMH is confirmation of part of the Motor Trend report that was published on the magazine's blog last Friday. MT's sources say that the buyer is a private investment firm.

Rumors are also circulating that the real reason is that current Aston-Martin boss Ulrich Bez was not interested in selling the company to a party without any automotive background. Couldn't he provide the automotive direction required to continue the resurgence at AM? We were really looking forward to AM-branded accessories, champagne, scotch and DB9-edition Tag Heuer.

[Source: Autocar}

Produced for only two years, 1992-1993, the GMC Typhoon is still a relative unknown to those outside of the high performance community, but if you own or have ever raced one of the 4,697 unleashed on the street, you will remember what to watch out for.

This example found on eBay looks like one of the few that was not modified and driven to within an inch of it's life; a survivor if you will. The turbocharged and intercooled 4.3 liter V6, probably underrated at 280 horsepower, appears to be unmolested save for the requisite K&N air filter. Many of these trucks have topped 300 horsepower when dyno'd in stock configuration, and acceleration numbers vary from the high 4's to the low 5's in runs to 60 mph, continuing on to a high 13-second quarter-mile.

Check out what a Typhoon does to a C4 Corvette in the video after the jump!

[Source: eBay]

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Betting on the success of the new Tundra in the insanely competitive full-size truck market, Toyota has loosely announced that they will not limit themselves to having only a half-ton pickup. A company spokesman says, "It would be safe to say" that a three-quarter ton truck is under strong consideration and would be in the market in 3-4 years.

Toyota won't confirm the rumors officially, but as the current marketing campaign is being unleashed to assault our senses and sensibilities about how the new Tundra proves that bigger is better, it seems like a natural progression of the program into bigger and even more capable trucks. Can a diesel be far behind?

[Source: Automotive News (sub req'd)]

After wading through video entries submitted by 820 teams from 230 schools, Chevrolet selected five teams totaling only 11 students to come to Detroit in late October. The candidates would have the chance to sharpen their advertising skills and work with industry professionals before presenting their final commercial submissions for Chevy's Super Bowl ad contest. When all the votes were in, 19-year old Katie Crabb from North Prairie, Wisconsin was the winner. Katie was the youngest participant in the competition, as well as the only solo finalist

Crabb, who entered the contest as an assignment for her freshman journalism class at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, will see her commercial run during tonight's Super Bowl telecast. The cost to run the 30-second commercial is somewhere around $2.6 million dollars. This is a big deal for Katie, as her work is being debuted during an event that's often watched as much for the commercials as it is for the actual game.

As a part of her prize, Katie will intern at Chevrolet's ad agency, Campbell-Ewald, but she says she will also keep her job at Applebee's until she graduates. At that point, Campbell-Ewald gave her a standing offer to start full-time with the firm, but Crabb says she'll just have to see what happens.

See the entire video after the jump!

Thanks for the tip Nellie Lide

[Source: Palm Beach Post via AP]

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Here's the scenario: You've locked your keys in the ignition of your Mazda3. Now there's an alternative to caving in the passenger's door to regain access to your car without wasting those precious cell minutes calling AAA. Apparently, all you need is a tennis ball (with a strategically placed hole burned into it) to get into your car. Check out the how-to video we've included after the jump that shows just what we mean. Now you just have to be sure you lock your keys in the car at either the sporting goods store or the country club.

[Source: techblog]

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In a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, Ford Motor Company is said to be losing about $1 billion per year due to counterfeit parts sales. Ford states that the real cost could be much higher, as it's impossible to determine the potential costs in terms of reduced safety related to these parts.

Ford has a full-time staff that is tasked to pursue the manufacturers and resellers of these parts, but admits that legal action is very difficult to enforce outside of the US and Mexico. Other companies included in the survey included Merck & Co., New Balance, Xerox Corp, and Bendix, all of who experience similar issues with counterfeiting.

Next time you buy those knock-off parts for your ride, take into consideration that you are not only putting your life on the line, but also the countless other drivers on the road around you. Spend a few more bucks and get the right parts, right from the source or else a legitimate substitute.

[Source: MSNBC]

So you think that car salesman and dealerships have overcome their oft-deserved reputation for being sleazy? After reading this story, our semi-restored faith in the process of buying a car has been decimated.

Eleven dealership employees at the Huling Brothers dealership in West Seattle took part in an elaborate scam to take advantage of a 60-year old man with obvious mental deficiencies. When the man, soaked in his own urine, entered the dealership and told the car salesman that he had over $100K in cash in his home, the wheels of the scam machine went into full-gear and he left the dealership with an expensive truck . Needless to say, the man winds up with no money and no truck at the end of the story. Check out the details of this sad tale after the jump.

Thanks for the tip, Yvo.

[Source: KOMO TV]

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In a report that won't be made public until next week, Traffic STATS found that women are far safer drivers than men. As a matter of fact, according to the assembled data, men have a 77% higher chance of dying in a car accident than women.

In the study complied by Traffic STATS, there are loads of statistics that disprove many perceptions that have long been treated as facts in the ongoing battle of the sexes behind the wheel. As the report proves again and again, many of these myths have been based on information gleaned from short-sighted and closed-minded acknowledgement of the hard numbers. The study states that some of the reasons women are less likely to be involved in a car accident are that men drive faster, take more risks, and drink and drive much more than women. The author of the research believes his findings so much that he now lets his wife drive whenever they are in the car together. Wives of the world will no doubt use this to their advantage for decades to come!

See some interesting facts from the report after the jump

Thanks for the tip, emulous!

[Source: Yahoo]

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Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Worlds Fastest Street 'Cuda

After nearly 15,000 hours spent creating the beast, the "Worlds Fastest Street 'Cuda" crossed the auction block as lot #1290 at the 36th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event this weekend, fetching a well-deserved $550,000. Our favorite custom at the show, this Cuda always had a crowd around it. Every single detail on this is perfect. All that carbon fiber and mean-looking go-fast hardware had us staring at it for hours.

The car was created by Alan Johnson and the team at Johnson's Hot Rod Shop and is a classic example of a resto-rod. The car maintains the classic 'Cuda shape and proportions, but updated with modern mechanicals. Powered by a 572 inch dry-sump all-aluminum Hemi featuring a one-off Hogan EFI setup and a two-stage Holley direct port nitrous setup, this monster puts 870 horsepower through a 6-speed transaxle and has been tested at speeds above 200 miles per hour by championship racer Scott Pruitt.

Read the press release after the jump

[Source: Frank Filiponio via Barrett-Jackson]

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Once again, Toyota is performing a voluntary recall of its Tundra pickup and Sequoia full-size SUV for ball joints that may wear out too quickly. We reported way back in May of 2005 when Toyota recalled 775,000 Tacomas, 4Runners, Tundras and Sequoias for the same issue, and the NHTSA has been investigating the issue since then. This time around, Toyota is recalling 553,000 Tundras and Sequoias built from 2004 through 2007. Anyone who has had a bad ball joint knows not only the irritation they cause, but also the potential for something dangerous to happen. The front suspension where these ball joints are located will make terrible knocking sounds, but in some instances, owners have reported that their worn ball joints have lead to losing control of the vehicle, rollovers and even the trucks collapsing on their front wheels! Automotive News reports that Toyota blamed the first recall in 2005 on the ball joints potentially being scratched during their assembly. Toyota has given no such reason for the recent recall, but it is acting in cooperation with the NHTSA to correct these issues that could be very dangerous for owners of the potentially affected vehicles. Toyota will be notifying those owners in February of the recall, and will replace both the left and right front ball joints at no charge. We should point, as well, that this recall will not effect the full-size Tundra pickup that's all-new and being built in Toyota's new plant in San Antonio, Texas.

[Source: CNN]

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