While GM CEO Fritz Henderson has stated that he “is not a fan of re-badging cars” and that the Pontiac G8 would die with Pontiac, a recent posting on a G8 forum may suggest otherwise-

“My dealer had sent off pictures to GM of the cable portion of the front seats belts rubbing against the plastic on the side of the front seats. In an email sent back to the dealer, GM says that they have no plans to solve what has already been built but going forward a correction is planned. The email continues: …a fix is planned for MY11.5 Chevy Police Program and MY12 Chevy SS. The fix will involve a protective sleeve that covers the buckle and section of the buckle stem that rubs on the plastic trim.”

Up until now, the Holden-based sedan was supposedly only going to come back here as a Chevy Caprice branded cop-car in 2011.  The Pontiac G8 was to be lower buck BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-class competitor but it seems GM has their sights set on competing directly with the Dodge Charger, which is also available as a Cop car and as a 425 horsepower muscle car.

Fiat Doblo

Fiat Ducato

Meet the Doblo and the Ducato, two new vans that will be sold in North America under the newly formed Ram brand at Chrysler.

The smaller of the two, the Doblo, will go head-on against the Ford Transit Connect.  A van for contractors, delivery businesses, locksmiths and whoever requires space but does not need something the size of a school bus.

The second of the two, the Ducato, will fill the void left by the Mercedes-sourced Dodge Sprinter van that has headed back to be sold under the Benz umbrella.

The Ducato will fill the void nicely as it is basically the same size and is already a direct competitor to the Sprinter.  Fiat will supply both vans and they will both be built and imported from Europe starting in 2011.  It is unclear whether either van will retain their Euro-grown names.

Joe Newsham aka “New Jersey Joe” is one of few front running 10.5″ Outlaw racers that sets records and w1ns without drastic support from an employing engine builder or chassis builder like so many front running 10.5 Outlaw cars.

Unfortunately, at last weekends Englishtown raceway held “Shakedown at E-town” extravaganza, Joe ran into some unfortunate top end luck after riding the rear wheelie bars well past the 330′ mark.

Joe, albeit banged up, lived to see another day.  Watch the video’s and see the reason why NHRA’s new mandated SFI chassis rules are indeed working.

Thanks to John Fore for the leading pic, you the man.

Newsham Crash Angle 1

Newsham Crash Angle 2

For years and years manual transmissions have always been the red headed step child when it came to aftermarket development.  This was even worse when you had to rely on your favorite brands supplier to come out with stronger replacement parts.  In the 60’s GM had the Muncie, Chrysler had the A-833 and Ford had the Top Loader.

From the 1980’s until recently we witnessed  TREMEC take a majority of marketshare by  being placed in everything from 5.0L Mustangs to the late model Dodge Viper ACR.  But what if you needed to put one behind your not-so-stock power plant?  The only option has been to step up to an automatic which usually consisted of variations based on the GM 3-speed TH400, GM 2-speed Powerglide or the Chrysler 727 Torqueflite.

The import companies ?  LOL  There is a reason why all the fastest Toyota Supras use GM  transmissions.

Automatics are great for drag racing but what if you want to bang your own gears ?  Mcleod has the answer.

After 3-years of development, and leaving 1 stress-tested and busted dyno in its wake, Mcleod has debuted the M-800 5-speed manual transmission.  A clean sheet design that was meant to be  a drop in replacement for Mopars A-833 4-speed from yore. The front plate and rear tail shaft can be changed to replace GM 4-speeds, Ford Top Loaders and T-5’s.

The M-800 is good for 800 ft/lbs of torque, uses all forged internals and has a 32-spline output shaft.  Mcleod is so sure of this beast that they have tagged it with a 1-year or 12000 mile warranty.

From toilets to wedding bands, carbon fiber has certainly made an impression on the right people for it come this far.

It can also only help prices come down for us car guys that told everyone about it in the first place.  How far have prices come down?  The 3.5 gram titanium / carbon fiber wedding band is only $30.00 and you would never notice it was on your finger!!