The king of the United Auto Workers, Bob King, has once again stood firm on his view to ban nonunion vehicles from UAW property. This time though, he went a little more hands on.

“Buying a U.S./UAW vehicle makes a difference,” King wrote in a two-page rebuttal to a blog post written by a Kansas City Business Journal reporter who was told to remove his Toyota Camry from a UAW parking lot.

The reporter, James Dornbrook, wrote that he was forced to move his car by a UAW member. Dornbrook also mentioned in his post that his Camry had more American-made parts than a Ford F-150.

While Dornbrook has a point, it apparently flew over the head of King, who wrote a long letter to the reporter. In it, he wrote how foreign automakers deny U.S workers the right to organize, something which the automakers deny.

“Foreign automakers accept U.S taxpayer’s dollars in incentives to build assembly plants in the United States, jeopardizing the future of middle-class workers in the domestic auto industry,” King wrote.

U.S automakers employ around 300,000 workers, which is still about two-thirds of all U.S autoworkers.

UAW President Bob King Reiterates Stance originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 22 August 2010 23:00 EST.

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Leaked photos, leaked pamphlets, spy shots; The truth always seems to come out no matter how much automakers try to hide it. This time, the truth was inadvertently released by an announcer during a Grand Am race. Turns out, the road going version of the Mustang Boss 302 will be debuted in Laguna Seca during the Pebble Beach Concours on August 13, 2010.

Back in May, Mark Fields, President of the Americas for Ford Motor Company made a bold move by providing a not so subtle hint about the next special edition edition Mustang. After stating that he couldn’t exactly say what the next special edition would be, he offered everyone a hint. As soon as he finished his sentence, a 1970 Boss 302 drove across the stage and Fields said “Is that a subtle enough hint?”

What we didn’t know was when the special edition Mustang would get the cover thrown off of it. Thanks to an inadvertent slip of the tongue, we now know the Boss will be coming back, and he will be doing it very soon. We just hope this announcer wasn’t blowing smoke because it would suck to have that carrot dangled in front of us and then have it snatched away.

Will Ford be unveiling the Mustang Boss 302 on August 13th? originally appeared on topspeed.com on Saturday, 7 August 2010 21:47 EST.

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Much like many other automakers these days, Maybach is not going to stick to just manufacturing their luxury saloons. No, they have to expand their lineup to include many other things to boost up their profit and make their name more recognizable. Here comes Maybach’s line of luxury eyewear.

And just like their luxury saloons, Maybach isn’t going to let their eyewear walk out of the manufacturing center off a machine. No, these models are hand-crafted using the highest quality materials, just like their vehicles. The lenses are made by Zeiss and the whole eyewear set is built under license by IVKO. When the line goes on sale at the end of October 2010, customers will be able to choose out of eight models in up to nine colors and ten different frames in up to six colors. The models will include lightweight, rimless, metal, and natural horn rims.

The eyewear will also have some details modeled after the saloons themselves. The arms of the frames will have the Maybach logo as well as metal that simulates the door sill panels and the piano lacquer on the wood and carbon fiber arms act like the finish of the trim strips of the Maybachs’ interior.

Maybach will also be launching their “Individual” collection which will give the customer many customization choices as well as various special requests. The most interesting part of the “Individual” collection will be the 18-carat gold details. The collection will include 19 unusual natural horn tones, six fine wood or wood/carbon fiber combinations, and ten lens tints. Customers will also have the option of having individual name lettering in the arm.

Hit the jump for the official press release.

Maybach launches luxury eyewear collection originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 1 August 2010 22:00 EST.

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Despite already being recognized as one of the most luxurious automakers in the world, Rolls-Royce seems to have no problem in upping the ante against its competitors with some pretty nifty new features on their vehicles. The latest feature being a new bespoke picnic set.

That’s right; because nothing says luxury more than having a nice portable picnic set sitting in the trunk of your car. Limited to only 100 units, this picnic set was the brainchild of Rolls-Royce’s in-house Bespoke team and comes with a completely loaded four-person dinnerware that includes utensils, plates, crystal glasses, and napkins, all of which are encased in a polished aluminum and leather chest.
According to Tostem Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce’s CEO, the idea to include a picnic set in the trunk of its vehicles came as a result of a growing trend amongst Rolls-Royce customers, especially those in the Middle East, to have their vehicles customized with the said feature.

If you’re looking into take a closer look at the Bespoke picnic set, the item will be proudly displayed from July 21 to July 23 at the Salon Prive at the Hurlingham Club in London.

Press Release after the jump

Rolls-Royce adds new limited-edition Bespoke picnic set feature originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 8 July 2010 23:00 EST.

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He may be getting up in age and his reflexes may not be as sharp as they used to be, but David Coulthard is still twice as good a driver – maybe even more – than the rest of us will ever be in our lifetime.

That’s precisely the reason why automakers like Mercedes-Benz have no problem showing off their new digs – in this case, the Mercedes SLS E-Cell – to racers like Coulthard and letting them test them out. And that’s exactly what Coulthard did, much to our dismay and impalpable envy.

In this video, the ’Square-Jawed One’ gets behind the wheel of Merc’s new electric supercar to give it a shakedown on an empty runway before heading off to the streets of Norway for another rundown. While the car may not hold the same power and ’oomph’ as its standard counterpart, the SLS AMG, Coulthard was nevertheless pleasantly surprised at capabilities of the SLS E-Cell, even describing the car’s off-the-block acceleration as “instant, but smooth”.

And as far as the E-Cell falling short of the power of its supercar brethren is concerned, Coulthard wasn’t all that disappointed, saying that the four individual motors that evenly distribute the torque make up for whatever straight-line speed it lacks.

Video: David Coulthard drives the Mercedes SLS E-Cell originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 4 July 2010 18:00 EST.

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Sure, there are all kinds of technologies out there that can make driving a whole lot easier. Everyone was pretty happy when cruise control came out, impressed when automakers were able to provide a backup sensor for cars, and ecstatic when the navigation systems guided us to where we needed to go. This invention, however, can cause people to either be elated or scared to death. We are talking about being able to drive a car with just your eyes.

German researchers have discovered a new technology called eyeDriver that will allow a vehicle to respond to the driver’s eye movement steering the car in whatever direction the driver’s eyes take it. This is done mounting cameras to a bicycle helmet (chosen due to its ergonomic shape). One camera is pointed to the road while the other is fixed on the driver’s eyes reading their every instruction. Raul Rojas, an artificial intelligence researcher at Berlin’s Free University, and his team were able to demonstrate this phenomenon at an airport in Germany last Friday using a Dodge Caravan decked out in lasers, cameras, and scanners.

Hit the jump for the full story.

Drive a car with your eyes, not your hands originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 26 April 2010 21:00 EST.

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April 23 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle reports on the Beijing Auto Show. As many as 89 vehicle models will make their worldwide debuts today at the show as the industry trade fair kicks off in the Chinese capital, according to an estimate by HIS Global Insight. Automakers including General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. plan to display a record 95 alternative energy-powered models at the show. While Chinas government has touted less-polluting cars as a way to improve air quality and cut reliance on imported oil, it has delayed a plan to introduce subsidies that may put the models within reach for buyers. (Source: Bloomberg)

Last week BMW unveiled the BMW 550i xDrive Gran Turismo at the Beijing Auto Show and today the company announced that the same xDrive system will also be offered for the 740d luxury sedan. The 740d model will not be the first in BMW’s 7-series to acquire the latest of BMW’s technology. The BMW 750i xDrive and the BMW 750Li xDrive piloted the technology about a year ago.

The BMW 740d xDrive combines BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology with common-rail direct fuel injection and delivers an impressive 306 hp with a peak torque of 442 lb-ft maintained consistently between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm.

BMW’s xDrive distributes driver power between the front and rear axles maximizing the force and creating the best possible traction and agility. It works in conjunction with the Dynamic Stability Control system which monitors road conditions. We can’t imagine this technology won’t be in all of BMW’s models eventually. As the pressure for smaller cars and bigger power escalates, automakers will have to make use of all the power they can to satisfy the “have your cake and eat it to” mindsight established in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.

Press release after the jump.

BMW 740d xDrive originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 15 April 2010 13:00 EST.

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Collectors pay top dollar for cars made in the 20s.

Back then automakers took pride in their product.

Now, anybody driving a car more than 10 years old doesn’t want to invest a dime in it because it’s virtually worthless on the used car market.

These days, filling the tank of a 10 year old car doubles its value!

And does it seem like we’re getting raped when we pay the money for what we believe is quality, but the car doesn’t end up lasting any longer than a Yugo?

Am I the only one that feels rage about the poor quality & workmanship and the high prices we’re forced to pay because of government mandated bumpers, lights, gismos, gatdgets, bells & whistles?