I spend a less than healthy amount of time on AutoBlog, Jalopnik, LeftLaneNews and any other website that flows a daily dose of Automotive news. It simply amazes me how fast these guys find stories and give great reporting on breaking models. That said I think some neat features are sometimes missed in an effort to be first to break the big car.

The new Pagani Zonda R captured my imagination not for its serious bad-assness (and yes, this is the Italian kick boxer of bad-assness), but the continuous innovation Pagani pushes in their designs. I mean seriously, who ever thought a race car would be a great place to debut some new styling features? Two of which caught my eye. …..And trust me I’m sure you’ll have these for your car by SEMA 2009.

First the tow hook

(See more photos after the Jump)

The only people I know of that think of a tow hook as a styling accessory typically think a 5″ Exhaust tip looks pretty trick on a 1.6 Liter Naturally aspirated engine too. But here, Pagani has integrated it into the lower splitter. Viewed on edge it practically disappears into the line of the lower splitter. Brilliant, sexy and useful.

I don’t know if some other car manufacturer or race team thought of this first, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed it. So if I’m off base let me know in the comments.

Second the Tachometer

Again, the only time I see people adding a tach of this size is typically some guy in a LX notchback about to clip an 8 in the Qtr mile. Funky gauges have always been part of race cars or styling exercises, but placing it in the steering wheel is really cool, but unlike the tow-hook, immensely impractical.

Forget about having this on a street car, unless you want the imprint of a Rev counter on your forehead when an air-bag goes off. On the racetrack it’s also a little silly, yes I know a ton of race cars mount Moteks in the steering wheel, but an analog Rev counter is often read with the peripheral vision, and how can you tell where the needle is pointing if you’re anything but dead center shooting down a straight line……hmmmm, maybe this would be a good location for a Qtr mile LX Notchback terror after-all?

Pagani launches track-only Zonda R.

Red Bull New Year No Limits – Truck Backflip- Video.

Father Saves Kid From Ferrari Crash – Video.

Motor 4 Toys Charity Car Show- Video.

The Ladies of SEMA 2008- Video.

Hulu – Knight Rider: Knight of the Living Dead – Watch the full episode now..

SEMA Show Las Vegas 2008: Mercedes-Benz Special (e- Video.

Adam Cleaning Alex’s car.

_MG_5361.jpg- Album.

_MG_5291.jpg- Album.

_MG_5346.jpg- Album.

_MG_5283.jpg- Album.

PS I may post my slides up next week if you miss it.

Now on the down side, I know that my blog has gotten a lot more popular in the last month or so, and I think I may be up to 3 people that check it daily….. I truely have to wonder about your browsing habbits if my ramblings are a daily digest for you.  I hate to say I may dissapoint a bit this week as I’m going to be working my ass off and will be very lucky if this isn’t the last post you see from me until I drag back into LAX on Sunday.  So please consider any postings you see between now and Sunday “extras”…..who knows, maybe this year will be different and I’ll actually have time to do more than run around like a mad man.

PS  I will be speaking at the Web 2.0 Panel Thursday at 2:00 PM at room N255-257

PPS On Wednesday at 1:30 I’ll be on Car and Driver radio, so set your dials to however you recieve that. Here is a link to their info page.

VIDEO: Ford SmartGauge with EcoGuide in action – Autoblog.

Pretty cool video. And just a reminder, my 2003 BMW M3 with only 36K miles is for Sale.

Eurowerkz Performance BMW Magazine Shoot- Video.

I had a ton of fun at this event (big thank you to Torque for organizing this), and it looks like Jonathan finally took the wraps off the teaser video as a prelude of what is to come.  Of course they cut out the lovely Miss Torque, my personal favorite, to see more of her, check out the Gallery below.

123►

Head2Head Season Premier- Behind the scenes- Video.

Unimog, made by Mercedes.  Quote of the video “Think tree huggers hate this car? you bet, people have used the Unimog to run saw mills!”

101 Cars You Must Drive: UNIMOG- Video.

HipStudios.hu again with a nice little tunner Girl showing us the Euro scene.  Love it, Cars and Girls transcend borders.

carsandgirls- Video.

Then I read this press release about a California Nisssan dealer being fined $34,750 for “illegally modifying cars”….are you kidding me?  Modified cars and custom bikes are as American as Apple Pie…..but I guess that explains why I was told that California is a fascist state?

2009 Nissan GT-R: Car dealership to pay ARB $34,750 for installing unapproved retrofits.

Never seen a virgin feed from the cars with no commentary like this.  Great stuff!  I really enjoyed just kicking back and listening to the sound.

F1 Belgium 2008 , formation lap, start and some la- Video.

An amazing collection of automobiles in a single video.  The 11-99 foundation is a charity to support the families of fallen California Highway Patrol officers.  This anual drive raises awareness for the foundation and and helps raise money for the charity.

11-99 CHP Run 2008- Video.

Only a month and a half away from the biggest event in the automobile world, and what do we all talk about?  Yea, the SEMA Girls.  Here is a nice little gallery from last year.

SEMA Girls , – Images, Photos.

AMS Drag EVO Dyno-2008 HIN Nightshift Chicago- Video.

Pretty cool Rally video from up north.  Lots of great cars, good compilation.

EXOTIC ENTERTAINMENT – Rally For Charity 2008- Video.

What can I say, a love drifting compilations…. especially when set to a nice jazzy beat that makes me want to sip Scotch, and smoke a cigar.

BRANDS HATCH DRIFT DEMO HD- Video.

Sent from a friend, here are some gorgeous Exotic car photos shot by ExoticDriven.com.  The Domain isn’t live yet, but after scanning these photos, I am really looking forward to checking out this community when it goes live.  For now the Pictures are posted on My350Z.com

Just a couple of cars… and pics *HIGH RES WARNING* – MY350Z.COM Forums

GT-R is coming to SEMA

I recenlty made a post on NAGTROC.org to see if any GT-R owners had plans to visit the SEMA show. Didn’t realize there would be so many planning to attend. Watch this space come November for photos and videos of the event.

GT-R at SEMA? – NAGTROC – The Nissan GT-R Owners Club.