First Ride: 2009 Harley-Davidson CVO models

There is no doubting that Harley-Davidson motorcycles have stood the test of time. Though sales of both mainstream and higher-end models from The Motor Company are down, Harley-Davidson has seen fit to continue its line of factory custom models. Custom Vehicle Operations offers complete models featuring Screaming Eagle parts.

HD has no problems selling its entire allotment of CVO SE bikes each year despite their high cost of entry, so we surmise that folks looking for full custom bikes complete with Harley-Davidson warranties must have fairly deep pockets. Surely then, these machines had better be quite different from their more standard countarparts. Let's take a closer look.

Gallery: First Ride: 2009 HD CVO Fat Bob

First Drive: 2009 Ford Fiesta (Euro-spec)

Twenty-five year-old females in Milan. According to global product development chief Derrick Kuzak, that's who Ford is hoping to satisfy with the new Fiesta. Well honestly now, who isn't? But that's some ambitious target, to attract the attention of the most trend-savvy (make that trend-setting) demographic in the world capital of fashion.

We didn't pass through Milan while driving the new Fiesta through the Italian countryside, and so, to our dismay, didn't have a chance to test out that particular target. But we did pass by a local road works crew on the winding mountain passes of Tuscany, dutifully working to keep that legendary tarmac silky smooth. They reacted to the Fiesta as if the car were the twenty-five year-old Milanese fashion model, taking notice as we approached and turning to ogle as we passed by. (They may have been shouting cat calls too, but we wouldn't have heard them from inside the Fiesta's whisper-quiet cabin.) That may be an even greater testimony to the new Fiesta's styling than the Blue Oval crew had hoped for. As for our impressions, and why readers in America and around the world alike should take note, just follow the jump to read on.

Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Ford Fiesta

Motorcyclist dies attempting land speed record on Salt Flats

Tragedy struck the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last week when 47-year-old Cliff Gullett, of Team Bullet Costella-Gullett Racing, lost control of his bike at nearly 240 mph. Gullett, an experienced racer who held nearly a dozen land speed records on motorcycles, was competing in the 500cc class (two-stroke, two-cylinder) riding the Costella-Gullett Motorcycle Streamliner. He crashed after completing his return run -- the record is pending ratification by the governing racing bodies. A memorial service will be held next Saturday in his hometown of Bozeman, Montana. Our condolences are extended to the entire Gullett family including his wife, son, and daughter. Our appreciation to 3seriesisking for alerting us to the sad news.

[Source: Yahoo! Sports, Photo by Team Bullet]

Autoblog drives the 2009 Corvette ZR1! (but we can't talk about it yet)

Click above for high-res gallery of our ride in the Corvette ZR1

Chevrolet officially kicked off series production of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at its Bowling Green KY assembly plant this week and decided to celebrate by inviting the media out to drive the new "King of the Hill". Since there are still several more waves of writers scheduled to drive the cars over the next week, we can't tell you what we thought of how it drives just yet. We can, however, share some photos of the cars we drove today around the Lutz-ring at General Motors' Milford Proving Ground. Stay tuned next Wednesday, August 20 for our full evaluation. In the meantime, enjoy the gallery and refresh your memory with our intro to the ZR1 from earlier this year.

Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1

First Ride: 2009 Harley-Davidson CVO models

Click above for high-res image of the Harely-Davidson CVO models

There is no doubting that Harley-Davidson motorcycles have stood the test of time. Though sales of both mainstream and higher-end models from The Motor Company are down, Harley-Davidson has seen fit to continue its line of factory custom models. Custom Vehicle Operations offers complete models featuring Screaming Eagle parts.

HD has no problems selling its entire allotment of CVO SE bikes each year despite their high cost of entry, so we surmise that folks looking for full custom bikes complete with Harley-Davidson warranties must have fairly deep pockets. Surely then, these machines had better be quite different from their more standard countarparts. Let's take a closer look.

First Drive: Maserati Quattroporte S in Europe

Click above for high-res gallery of the Maserati Quattropore S

Let's be honest: cars can be a mode of transportation, but you're not reading Walkoblog or Cycleblog, now are you? At the heart of matters, what we're really pursuing here is that unbridled enthusiasm we had for cars as children. With every comparison of engine output and Nurburgring lap times, we're reaching back to the schoolyard, childishly debating the superiority of one sportscar over another. And all these galleries of high resolution images we bring you are just our updated version of hanging posters of Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the walls of our childhood bedrooms. How disappointed our younger selves would be, however, at what we end up driving when we finally have the means: ho-hum family sedans, bloated SUVs and wobly mini-vans. If only someone made an exotic sedan – not a compromise between the two, but a genuine exotic with four doors. That's exactly what Maserati did in 2003 with the revival of the Quattroporte, with a little help from sister-brand Ferrari.

With the Quattroporte, Maserati has proven itself capable of satisfying both our inner child and the one sitting in the back. A tough act to follow, then, because a sequel is seldom as exciting the original. But after 15,000 units delivered, the Quattroporte was treated to a mid-cycle refresh, sharpening up its already luscious styling, throwing in a host of new features and, most tantalizingly, dropping a bigger, more powerful engine into the mix. With such promise in store, we headed out to Austria to see what the boys from Modena had cooked up... and to seek out that boyhood grin once again.

First Drive: Maserati Quattroporte S in Europe

Click above for high-res gallery of the Maserati Quattropore S

Let's be honest: cars can be a mode of transportation, but you're not reading Walkoblog or Cycleblog, now are you? At the heart of matters, what we're really pursuing here is that unbridled enthusiasm we had for cars as children. With every comparison of engine output and Nurburgring lap times, we're reaching back to the schoolyard, childishly debating the superiority of one sportscar over another. And all these galleries of high resolution images we bring you are just our updated version of hanging posters of Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the walls of our childhood bedrooms. How disappointed our younger selves would be, however, at what we end up driving when we finally have the means: ho-hum family sedans, bloated SUVs and wobly mini-vans. If only someone made an exotic sedan – not a compromise between the two, but a genuine exotic with four doors. That's exactly what Maserati did in 2003 with the revival of the Quattroporte, with a little help from sister-brand Ferrari.

With the Quattroporte, Maserati has proven itself capable of satisfying both our inner child and the one sitting in the back. A tough act to follow, then, because a sequel is seldom as exciting the original. But after 15,000 units delivered, the Quattroporte was treated to a mid-cycle refresh, sharpening up its already luscious styling, throwing in a host of new features and, most tantalizingly, dropping a bigger, more powerful engine into the mix. With such promise in store, we headed out to Austria to see what the boys from Modena had cooked up... and to seek out that boyhood grin once again.