How’s that for a Friday headline?

We talk plenty about animals skins here on the razz, but honestly, this is one that I never imagined would be news.

Apparently, some auto outfit in Russia named Dartz came up with the idea of creating a bank vault on wheels — essentially the world’s most tricked-out, opulent, four-ton SUV. As Wired explains, some of the options include gold-plated window surrounds, gauges encrusted with diamonds and rubies, and an exhaust system made from tungsten. Oh yea, and the option for whale-penis leather seats.

Once the green scene got wind of such an accessory, the condemnation rang out from all corners; prompting the company to backtrack on the bizarre option. A press release with the title “ARMORED CAR WITHOUT PENIS. LET’S SAVE THE WHALES.” was sent out — and, in my opinion, instantly became the most hilarious press headline ever.  In verbatim, here’s a bit from the release:

One month ago DARTZ presented uberluxury armored car with whale penis interior – PROMBRON’ (ex.RussoBaltique), lot of people name this car as DARTZ.KOMBAT. As the world’s resonance was very huge and DARTZ got lot of angry e-mails from Greenpeace, WWF and also Pamela Anderson, DARTZ make strong decision to stop their plans regarding such interior.

We just looking for most expensive products for this car – and that’s why we choosed whale penis leathure when we checked it is most of most. After wave of protest we realised our mistake and make a decision not to use natural leathure at all. We will focus on world most advanced nanotechnologies to achieve interior highest quality using artificial materials which also was never used for cars. We want to tell our hello to all whales: “Our Sea Brothers! We all know that earth are stand on three whales - we will keep You live! We don’t Earth fall down to Ocean!”

And on that note, may you all sleep better this evening knowing that whale-penis leather is not an option for your vehicle. Thanks again Pamela and Co.!

via Wired

Back in September of 2008, Daryl Hannah mentioned that she was planning on taking the iconic Trans Am her character from the movie Kill Bill drove and turning into an all-electric vehicle. She did have some reservations about the conversion, however. “Because it’s a heavier car, it’s not going to get as long a range,” she said.

Looks like Hannah decided to wait and instead focus on using the gasoline engine she already had. The actress told MNN that the Kill Bill Trans Am has been converted to run on 100% pure alcohol (or ethanol). This would make it the second car in her garage running on an alternative fuel after her “badass” biodiesel El Camino.

What’s next for Hannah’s growing fleet of eco cars? According to MNN, as soon as they’re available, she has her heart set on an all-electric Phoenix truck.

Back in August of 2007, we shed the smallest of tears for Yoko Ono after she publicly urged automakers to “make hybrid cars as comfortable as a Bentley”. We felt awful for her — and the millions of happy hybrid-owners who are oblivious to the uncomfortable and spartan interiors of their vehicles.

Thanks to a report on Autobloggreen this morning, Yoko now has reason to hope for the future. Apparently, Bentley may be considering offering a hybrid version of their insanely-priced luxury vehicles. Their 2009 models average about 9 mpg in the city and 14-17 mpg on the highway — so any movement toward a hybrid model would certainly save Yoko some fuel costs — and potentially keep the whining to a minimum.

Full article over at ABG here.

Rachel McAdams was spotted yesterday going for a bike ride in her hometown of Toronto, Canada. The GreenIsSexy.org eco-gal appears next in the movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

God, I hate those cyclists. Every last herbal tea-drinking, Harriet Harman-voting one of them. That’s one of the reasons I live in the countryside, where birds tweet, horses roam, pigs grunt and Lycra-clad buttocks are miles away. But recently, there’s been a disturbing development. Each Saturday, a big black truck appears at the bottom of my road, with bikes stuck to the roof and rear. Out of it step a bunch of City-boy ponces in fluorescent Spider-Man outfits, shades, bum bags and stupid cleated shoes, who then pedal around our narrow lanes four abreast with their private parts alarmingly apparent. Do they enjoy it? They never smile. I’m sure they just come here to wind me up.

Then, in what’s since been removed from the article, Martin then went on to describe how he quietly crept behind a group of bicyclers in the Tesla and then blared his horn forcing them off the road. “The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my rear-view mirror,” he wrote.

Whether or not the incident actually ever happened hasn’t been revealed, but Martin has suffered a shit-storm of criticism in the wake of the article. Said one commenter,  “It’s risky enough out there anyway without stupid, fat chefs trying to run us of the road, which, by the way, cyclists have the right to be on – motorists have to pay for the privilege. Hopefully, his career will now go down the frying pan. Smug idiot.”

The chef has since apologized for the piece — but we think a more appropriate gesture would have been to drop the car for a week and take to the roads to see the BS bikers have to deal with everyday. Perhaps then, with the shoe on the other foot, some real perspective could be gained.

On tonight’s Jay Leno Show, Drew Barrymore becomes the first celebrity to get behind the wheel of a tricked-out, track-ready, all-electric Ford Focus. It’s all part of the new “Green Car Challenge” segment which pits celebrities against each other in a bid to record the fastest times. The Leno crew even built a specially-designed racetrack outside the studio to handle the vehicles.

And standard cars, these are not. From Automobilemag:

In addition to swapping out powertrains, Ford put in Recaro racing seats complete with five-point harnesses to hold the celebrities in place and installed a full roll cage to keep them safe should they manage to roll the vehicle. Ford also swapped out the rear springs to deal with the extra heft of the batteries. Incredibly, the engineers only needed six-weeks to build Leno’s electric Focus.

A roll cage? Whoa. Who want to bet the legal sign-off on this race is a few pages thick? The engineers were probably thinking something like, “Let’s say Gary Busey gets behind the wheel of this car…”

The Jay Leno Show rolls this evening at 10PM EST.

via Treehugger

Originally slated for a 2009 release, Chris Paine’s Revenge Of The Electric Car documentary — the follow-up to his successful Who Killed The Electric Car? flick — has now been moved to a late 2010 release.

Speaking at the Plug-in 2009 conference in Long Beach, California last week, Paine said the decision to move back the release was less about production hold-ups and more because they want the cars to be available when the film hits theaters. Filming for the doc is expected to wrap in September 2010.

Joining Paine during the conference panel was Chelsea Sexton — EV advocate and star of the first film — and none other than Bill Nye the Science Guy, who left his all-electric MINI-E at home in favor of taking the train. Autobloggreen has an MP3 audio capture of the event with the three panelists discussing everything from Ann Coulter to “what it’s like to give someone a ride in your electric car and make them excited about what EVs can do.”

Jump here for more.

Newton notes that the language used in a many of the articles (and numerous reposts) is disparaging to cyclists, implying Moore was at fault (”he broke his leg”) and that biking injuries aren’t meant to be taken seriously.

E! Entertainment thought it was funny to suggest that Moore took literally the stage phrase “break a leg” while “tooling around on his bicycle.”  The AP’s exponentially reposted article also took the “break a leg” angle. If he had been in a vehicle you can’t help but think his injuries might have been covered more sympathetically and not just as a “mishap.”

We love to see folks on their bikes (and get on our bikes too!) and this unfortunate incident, and Newton’s analysis, shines an interesting light on gossip and mainstream media coverage of cycling culture and safety issues.

Best wishes to Moore for a quick recovery.

Photo: PR Photos

The article says that, ”One idea for a recurring comedy bit includes a ‘green-car challenge,’ in which celebrities would race electric or hybrid cars. Tom Cruise has already asked whether he could do some practice runs before competing, Leno said. (The host told him practice runs are forbidden.)”

Sounds like the segment’s not actually slated yet but might make the cut if they’re talking about it with press. A known autohound, Leno himself has a GM EcoJet in his fleet and it would be cool to see some test drives of other upcoming vehicles.  I’m sure he could get his Motor Press Guild card-carrying hands on a few.

Photo: PR Photos