Celebrity justice

Kia is in the Halloween spirit at this year’s SEMA show. The Korean automaker today unveiled its five Justice League inspired SEMA concepts, based on the Optima, Rio, Soul, Forte Koup, and Forte hatch. Built for charity in collaboration with DC Entertainment, the Justice League Kias honor Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, The Green Lantern, and Cyborg. We’ve already seen quite a few of the Justice League Kias; the Batman Optima SX Limited was unveiled in New York a few weeks ago, and The Flash Forte Koup and Green Lantern Soul were teased last week, so the two biggest surprises paid tribute to Aquaman and Cyborg. The Aquaman Rio hatch, built by West Coast Customs, features a fishy-looking exterior with a gold and green paint job, styled with scales to look like Aquaman’s outfit. The Rio’s exterior is finished off with a custom grille and massive (on a Rio) 20-inch wheels. Inside, West Coast Customs continued the Aquaman theme with green leather and yellow accents. The … [Read more...] about Kia Justice League Concepts Celebrate Halloween at 2012 SEMA Show

Another stellar group of Honorees have been chosen for the 17th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The three-day festival of speed and rods takes place at Auto Club Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, October 10-12. The honorees are Grand Marshal Junior Thompson, Steve Davis, John Edmunds, Georgia Seipel, Walt Rhoades, and Butch Maas. The Justice Brothers’ Reunion Spotlight will shine on Gas Ronda. “This year’s honorees are a highly eclectic group of deserving individuals who have dedicated their lives to hot rodding and drag racing,” said Greg Sharp, curator of the nonprofit Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, which produces the Reunion. “I’m glad we can honor folks like this who have meant so much to the sport.” Junior Thompson is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his Little Eliminator victory (the first ever contested) at the third NHRA Nationals held in Oklahoma City. From a ’40 … [Read more...] about Junior Thompson Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of His Little Eliminator Victory

As part of showing its support for DC Comics’ We Can Be Heroes campaign to fight hunger in Africa, over the past year or so Kia has whipped up a number of superhero-themed cars and displayed them at auto shows. There was the Batman Optima, The Flash Forte Koup, Aquaman Rio5, Green Lantern Soul, Cyborg Forte five-door, Superman Optima hybrid, and Wonder Woman Sportage—whew! Now, the automaker has revealed the final DC Comics–themed project car, a 2014 Sorento decked out to celebrate the entire Justice League, or all seven of the heroes listed above. The Justice League Sorento is making its big debut, appropriately enough, at the 2013 Comic-Con show in San Diego.Even though the seven individual hero-themed Kias were a bit, uh, over-styled, this Sorento, which stuffs cues to all seven Justice League members into one visual cacophony, is actually pretty subdued. The exterior gets a pretty badass painted mural on each side, which is neat—even if the treatment seems … [Read more...] about Kia Debuts Justice League–Themed Sorento SUV at 2013 Comic-Con

If anyone back in 1949 thought the Volkswagen Beetle would go on to capture Americans’ imagination, the folks at Volkswagen certainly weren’t among them. Like many foreign car brands, VW itself did not enter the U.S. market, and instead left that task to an independent Dutchman. That man brought just two Bugs to the states in ’49, an unassuming start for a car that, as of today, has found 5.5 million buyers in this country alone. That saying “the rest is history” almost doesn’t do the Beetle’s success justice, and VW, for its part, is celebrating the Beetle’s 65th year in the U.S.Follow Car and Driver on FacebookWe agree the pokey little car deserves a little nod, and not just because it’s so darn cute. As Volkswagen points out, the car has only been significantly redesigned three times over its nearly 75-year existence. And, of course, well over 20 million of the original Type 1 Beetles were built globally through the early 2000s. … [Read more...] about Volkswagen’s Beetle Hits Retirement Age in the U.S., Celebrates 65 Years in America