Welcome to The Smoking Tire. Kick ass automotive videos and more.

Automotive Atrocities in Thailand: Aston Martin kit car

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Whenever I travel abroad, I am amazed at how many products are copied, badly, and sold on the streets. Fake Rolexes are the common example, but Louis Vitton bags, leather wallets, Ferrari jackets and even women (watch for adam’s apples) are poorly replicated around the world and sold to tourists looking to get luxury at a steal. I have no problem if someone wants to sell you a fake Burberry scarf for $10, because I think the fact an authentic ugly plaid one costs $350  is retarded. It’s not an attractive design, it’s just unique and lets the world know you have a nice bank account.

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06.02.2010 News, Viewer Submission 10 Comments

Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Identity Crisis Edition

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

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There’s nothing wrong with a first-generation Jaguar XKR. With a supercharged 4.2 liter engine, top speed of 155 mph, and a beautifully crafted interior, these XKR’s can be fantastic buys on the used market, with some examples available as low as $15,000. Even though the XK series was built on the same platform as the Aston Martin DB7, an Aston it isn’t. Which is why this owner’s badging conflict makes me laugh. Aston badges up front, Jaguar badges in the back. And for the record, black wheels don’t match on a dark blue car.

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12.01.2010 News, Photos 4 Comments

The Most Epic of Mansory Fails…..

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

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I know this is a terrible cell phone picture. It’s of the window sticker attached to the window of this 2009 Aston Martin DB9 Coupe. I’m using a different photo of the exterior, because the car is a DB9 made so hideously ugly with its Mansory body kit that it broke my camera. For those of you who don’t know, Mansory makes body kits. Generally, these body kits are for ruining exotics like the Bentley GT, Mercedes SLR McLaren, Ferrari 599, and Aston Martin DB9. And in nearly every single case, they succeed in taking an already beautiful car, and turning it into a styling abomination. I always assumed that a Mansory body kit would be very expensive, but never, ever, could I imagine that the DB9 kit costs $57,000, plus another $6,000 worth of installation labor. Want a comparison? This DB9 stickered at $261,000, and it was parked right next to a beautiful black DBS with a sticker price of $275,000. That’s what I call a no-brainer.

(Photo of the actual car by Carspotting.com, it’s the same car I saw at Aston of Beverly Hills last night.)

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07.01.2010 News, Photos 3 Comments

Aston Martin : Epic Fail.

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

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I bet you don’t read those words very often, do you? Well that’s because it’s been about 20 years now since Aston stopped production of its last Epic Fail, the Lagonda (which, for the record, would make a great engine-swap candidate). Now we have this. It’s called the Cygnet and it’s based heavily on the Toyota IQ, but with a more Aston-y interior. I get it, since the Mini, people want more small, premium cars. That’s fine, but can’t it stop with the Audi A1 and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class? What’s next? A Bentley Smart Car? A Tata Nano Pur Sang? I would never tell someone to damage someone else’s car, but if this thing goes to production and you see one on the street, I’d definitely suggest farting in its general direction.

Thanks, Michael for the tip!

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16.12.2009 Editorials, News, Photos 5 Comments

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