Import Modified

Tell this rumor (more than a rumor?) turns out to be true: Lotus might just be coming back to Indy car racing. Yes, that Lotus. The same car company that was derided by the likes of A.J. Foyt until Jimmy Clark beat him like a dumb Texas mule. Yes, the same car company that makes such tasty offerings as the Elise and that truly sublime Evora hybrid from Geneva.

For those of you in the know, Indy Car Racing will be ..read more

Over the past few years, there’s been a surge of small, affordable hatchbacks coming on the market, and they continue to flow. We have the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Honda Fit, Mazda3, VW Golf, and plenty of others to choose from in this range. It’s no surprise – they’re cheap, fuel efficient, have room to store all sorts of crap with the rear seats folded down, and some are even fun to drive. So it’s no surprise that Suzuki ..read more

In their effort to expand the Corvette lineup, Chevy just announced the 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition model – a track-tuned version of the Z06.

The Z06 Carbon features 20-spoke black 19-inch front/20-inch rear wheels, Magnetic Selective Ride Control, a special carbon pattern engine cover, and the ZR1’s Brembo carbon ceramic brakes. It will only be available in two colors – thankfully two sexy colors – Inferno Orange and a new Supersonic Blue, which you see here.

Other aesthetics of the ..read more

Lexus just announced details about the new limited edition IS 350C F-Sport. With only 100 being produced, Lexus pulls a Scion Release Series-type move and makes a few changes to the stock IS 350C Convertible. So, what’s changed?

First up, it’s only available in two colors – Tungsten Pearl and Obsidian (not the cool orange color you see above, sadly.) That’s black and silver, respectively. You’d think being an F-Sport model would allow for some more exciting colors. Next up – ..read more

edo competition has always seemed to be a little bit different for a German tuning firm. The Ahlen-based outfit tunes something other than just German cars, for one thing. Take for example their latest project: Having a serious go at Aston Martin’s DBS.

Of course, like seemingly all German tuning firms, edo competition has to do something funny with their name. In edo’s case, they have to go all e.e. cummings and their name is in all lower case. That aside, ..read more

Warms the cockles of my heart it does. The fact that Chrysler saw fit to even make a drag strip version of the reborn Dodge Challenger in the first place was great. And it seems that they were enough of a success for the company to continue to offer them in 2010.

In 2009, the company created 100 of the drag-strip specials. For 2010 the will be making even more of the cars and they’ve said the price will be $39,999. ..read more

Alright, so I’m a bit of a geek. I just love when a cool new product shows up that combines cars and some of my favorite movies. In this case, ThinkGeek.com just released a new 1/12 scale replica of the Delorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future – including lights, moving parts, and sound effects. Awesome!

Check it out:

Originally manufactured in northern Ireland, the DeLorean DMC-12 had gull-wing doors and totally sweet brushed stainless steel paneling. Sadly, it was the only ..read more

This is the Peraves E-Tracer. It looks like a drop tank from a P-61, is powered by an electric motor and has outrigger wheels. It is also entering the Automotive X-Prize, and thinks that it has a real shot at winning the thing. They just might be right. It’s light enough and efficient enough right off the rack that it could win. Not sure whether it should count as a car or not.

If Peraves is right, and the E-Tracer has ..read more

German tuner GeigerCars just got their hands on the Ford Mustang GT500 – an already high-powered pony car ripe for tuning – and turned it into a real beast. Geiger opened up the hood and left almost nothing untouched.

Inside and around the massive 5.4-liter V8 powerhouse, GeigerCars added larger throttle valves, a modified injection system, a 100 millimeter air flow meter and machined cylinder heads, and extra coolers for air intake, coolant and engine oil. Geiger also took the stock ..read more

So this thing doesn’t have a hood? Wow, that’s kind of a rat rod thing for a German tuning firm to do, don’t you think? Ah well, one way or the other, it’s going to be hard to argue with a BMW M3 coupe that has been squeezed up to (gulp) 600 horsepower. Anyway, the German tuning firm in question is called IND, and they have a penchant for overblown car names and lots and lots and lots of power.

IND ..read more