Autoblog

First art imitates life and now video games do the same, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan having joined forces to create the GT Academy. Over the course of eight months, the academy culled a group of wannabe racers from a field of entrants who posted the best lap times in GT5 Prologue. Then, for five days at Silverstone, the finalists competed in the game and on the actual track, watched by ex-F1 racer Johnny Herbert and a panel of five judges.

The two winners were just announced, and Top Gun status went to Lars Schlomer and Luis Ordonez. Schlomer is a taxi driver in Bonn, Germany; Ordonez is an MBA student from Spain. Now that they've won, they'll be thrown into boot camp for four months to learn to how to race for real silver: in four months, they'll have to earn their racing licenses and get ready to drive a factory-backed Nissan 350Z in the 24 Hours of Dubai this coming January.The rest of us will have to be content with GT5 Prologue for now...

[Source: Sony]

The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong bought 13 Rolls-Royce Phantoms for shuttling guests around the city. The Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo has purchased just one car, and will leave the guest to drive himself. That car is an R8, finished in the hotel's trademark Brewster Green, with a gold Peninsula logo outside, and cognac leather inside. To avail yourself of it -- once you've gotten to Tokyo -- you'll need to book the Peninsula Suite, which goes for the ho-hum figure of ¥850,000 per night. That $8,000 U.S. every day to burble at single-digit speeds in Tokyo traffic, although you are allowed to take it outside of Tokyo. Come to think of it, the speeds probably don't matter -- if you have that kind of money, there's a good chance you've got an R8 or better in your own garage already...

[Source: Asahi via German Car Blog]

Lewis Hamilton is finding that there's more to life than being a really, really ridiculously good driver. Like male modeling. While we don't think Lewis will make a career of it, he actually did a pretty good job posing for the new McLaren shoe line recently launched as part of its lifestyle collection. The line includes four different shoes, from a laced shoe suitable for everyday use to full driving boots. Interestingly, none of the shots show him actually wearing the shoes on his feet, but we don't think that was the point. So now we have to ask... who would win in a walk-off? Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso?

[Source: McLaren]

Click above for more images of the Bentley luggage collection by Dunhill

Dunhill, the English leather goods maker, has worked with then Bentley Design Team to create a five-piece luggage set. Huzzah! Not only does the fluting on the bags echo the fluting on your Arnage's seats, but the luggage trim is done in knurled aluminum. The entire set consists of a briefcase, large and small suitcases, a washbag, and a weekend bag. You can expect to pay £4,300, before options. But then, if you're an Arnage owner, you're probably more concerned with finding out if you can get leather to match your seats. Check out the gallery below for more photos.


[Source: Sybarites]

Motive has the skinny on what you should know if you need to crash -- for a few weeks, that is -- in your car. Of course, the first advice is to get a minivan or SUV with tinted windows. However, if things have come to the point where reclining seats are your bed, you probably aren't in a position to double-down on a Vanagon. Some of the tips you might have guessed: get earplugs, don't subsist on the McDonald's dollar menu, and don't bathe in fountains. Others you might not have expected: put fabric softener sheets under the seats, park in Wal-Mart lots overnight if you need, and Panera Bread and Dunkin' Donuts have free wi-fi. And no matter what, don't try to hide your keys somewhere on the car and then think you can get blasted on two-buck-chuck inside the car. That's called Operating Under the Influence. Click the link for the other tips in a thoroughly entertaining read that you will hopefully never need to take advantage of.

[Source: Motive]

Click above for high-res gallery of Burning Man vehicles

The theme of this year's Burning Man festival out in the desert of Nevada was "The American Dream." There are few things in this world that embody the American spirit more than the automobile, and transportation of all sorts was on display at this year's festivities. We already showed you The Dogsled, which made its first appearance at the Woodward Dream Cruise just a few weeks before but was actually designed and built for Burning Man. That machine was truly impressive, but take a good look at this Hummer replica that towered over the unique individuals who gathered themselves together at the Playa, a wide desert expanse at the festival. As you can see from the video embedded after the break, the Bummer Hummer was made from wood and painted up in all sorts of crazy hues. According to one party-goer, "It is a statement on the consumerism culture of America, especially with gas at $5 a gallon nowadays." They must be from California. Of course, the wooden Hummer burned in the end. Thanks for the tip, Patrick!

Check out more vehicles from Burning Man 2008 in our gallery below.


[Source: SFGate, photos by bmiller1710 | CC2.0]

Trevor Creed resigned from the position of Chrysler's head of design, and as of today is succeeded by Ralph Gilles, the man who designed the 300C. Since every change at the top comes with a "new sheriff in town" speech -- or at least one-liner -- this is what Gilles had to say: "It's definitely time for a new aesthetic at Chrysler. ... We're done with the 'edge' look."

Gilles says he wants the Pentastar's cars to look more "organic." This being art, however, that could really mean anything. For concrete examples and practical considerations he mentioned the Dodge Zeo and Chrysler Ecovoyager, and said that he wants to design "sexy" cars that will appeal around the world. Intriguing statements from the gent known for a car that epitomizes the American muscle sedan, but we are all in favor, and we say "aye." The only question is how soon will they start the redesign, and what will organic look like?

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Kudos to the crew at BMW, who recently donated a few cars, a handful of instructors and one of its test tracks to an injured Marine training class. A group of soldiers wounded in Iraq were invited to the track to learn performance driving techniques behind the wheel of some seriously desirable machinery, including the 650i coupe on the right. The vehicles were modified in order to allow the disabled soldiers to operate them, some with hand controls for Marines who had lost their legs in battle. To operate the throttle, drivers pull back a hand lever and push forward to operates the brakes.

Injured soldiers are provided with driver training after healing from their injuries. According to the Marines who attended the BMW training, though, the skills learned on the race track were much more thorough and will prove invaluable in their transition back to daily life.

[Source: The New York Times via Kicking Tires Photo: Chris Keane / NYT]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Caravan Concept

Yes, we've got more new from the recreational and commercial vehicle show going on in Düsseldorf, Germany. After the Fiat Portofino and VW Topos Sails concepts comes something intriguing straight from the RV industry itself... with a little help from BMW. It's called the Caravan Concept and it's by a company in Europe called Merhzeller. Designed by Christian Freisling and Thersa Kalteis, the Caravon Concept is a traditional hitched travel trailer that's skinned inside and out with more polygons than a PS2 could process. The idea is that customers can custom design their trailer using an online "Konfigurator" so they get just enough geometric shapes to meet their needs. The only bit of warmth on the Caravan Concept is the wood floors, counters and table top on the inside, but other than that it's full blown Fortress of Solitude on wheels, and we like it. BMW is one of many sponsors behind the Merhzeller Caravon Concept, which also includes about three dozen European companies we've never heard of. Regardless, Squob reports that the trailer is building buzz in Düsseldorf, so there may be hope if you yearn to vacation in this 8-bit snowball.


[Source: Squob]

Click above to view video after the jump

Michael Bay's first attempt at bringing the Autobots into the real world, the 2007 live action Transformers film, has been all over HBO lately. When looking for HD programming to justify the expense of a flat screen and DirecTV to the Mrs., this movie really hits the spot. So in addition to once in the theater, I've seen it about 10 more times at home. Suffice it to say, I'm ready for T2: Revenge of the Fallen. While we've seen plenty of shots from filming and learned that the once mysterious addition to the Autobots is in fact the Corvette Centennial concept, we haven't had so much as a teaser trailer yet to wet our whistle. The video after the jump is a mere sip, but it will have to do for now. Thought to be shot in Long Beach, CA where filming has moved, it features a caravan of Autobots obeying the most famous of all Optimus Prime orders: Roll Out! The group includes Optimus, of course, and Bumblebee and Ironhide, as well as the Chevy Beat and Trax concepts and the Corvette Centennial concept. There's no sign of any Decepticons yet, but you just wait. Follow the jump to watch the video in high-res for yourself.

[Source: TFLiveBlog via eGMCarTech]