Late Night Coffee

Click here to see the photos

Although the car won’t be available until 2010, GM introduced the production version of the game-changing Chevrolet Volt today. The Volt is an electric vehicle that recharges its lithium ion batteries from an AC outlet or an onboard gas engine. The production version …

Edmunds’ Inside Line quotes Lexus’ corporate product planning manager as saying the price of the new Lexus’ LS-F price will “begin with a 2.” We’re guessing the V10 supercar won’t be $29,995. In honor of this news, I’ve hit up the thesaurus: brainsick, off, daft, absurd and whack. See also: dismal failure, stillborn. Newsflash to Lexus. You’re not Ferrari. This won’t be a performance halo car (reference Acura’s NSX and the amazing effects it had on making people think the RL was sporty). Also, people buying summer Sunday cars for $200k aren’t motivated by factors like “reliability,” especially when this hand built carbon fiber monster will likely not maintain the brand’s hallmark reputation for non-breakage and low maintenance. And, because I especially don’t care for this LF-A supercar, here’s a list of cars that cost half as much with better looks (extrapolating), heritage or fun: Porsche 911 Turbo ($135k), Nissan GT-R ($70k +  ?), Corvette Z06 ($77k), Corvette ZR1 (estimated $100k), Ford GT (slightly used, $150k), Ferrari F430 ($175k), Aston Martin DB9 ($175k), and BMW M6 ($100k).

At long last Tesla Motors has opened its first dealership in LA. The $109,000 all-electric sports car has just started shipping to the people who first preordered them. So you can certainly go test drive one in LA now (with more dealerships set to open in other cities in the coming months), but expect to wait 15 months to get one if you decide to place an order. We’re not talking about Honda Civics here, after all. [CNN]

A sports car? An economy car? A pickup truck? A genuine off-roader? A soup ladle? The reincarnation of an ‘87 AMC Eagle? Oh wait, maybe the last one. Anyway, the official pre-ad campaign press release reveals that Spartanberg’s finest– the X6 “SportyActivity Coupe” — is about to get the Star Wars Episode IV “A New Hope” treatment. The company will project a holographic image of Bimmer’s new car truck SAC in the lobby of four prominent Wall Street enclaves (so to speak), complete with the message “You must see this droid safely delivered to Alderaan.” The ad agency that devised this hi-tech, what’s the word? Solution, clearly understands the vehicle’s WTF factor. “The BMW X6 doesn’t look like anything BMW has ever produced — you have to see it to believe it,” said Duff Stewart, President and COO of GSD&M Idea City. “Our goal was to put this amazing vehicle in front of its best prospects and stop them in their tracks.” How come those ad guys never say “and buy it?” BTW: BMW says the X6 is “Coupe’s evil twin.”

As a fan of the predecessor to this current M3, the e46, I was skeptical about driving what some called a heavy, underpowered car that didn’t quite live up to its ancestors’ legacy. A few die-hard enthusiasts, amid cracking tired Bangle jokes that …