Design Contest--Almost Everything Racing Team

Almost Everything Autobody and AENE Automotive Racing announce an open competition to design graphics to be used on Almost Everything cars, banners, flags and promotional materials. The top 3 entries will receive plaques recognizing their achievements and have their work featured on Almost Everything's website, international press, YouTube channel, Facebook page, Blog, Tweets and advertising. First Place winner will also be featured on cars themselves and will receive a free, top-of-the-line, Signature Base Coat/Clear Coat paint job (up to $1400.00 value) or a check for $500.00.

Contest Rules:

1. All entries must be submitted in the form of JPEG, PNG, GIF and/or TIFF files to Almost Everything by USB Flash Drive, XD or SD memory card:
• e-mail:  Autobody@Almost-Everything.com
• postal mail:
  Almost Everything Auto Body Repair & Paint
  37414 Centralmont Place
  Fremont, CA 94536 USA
2. Maximum e-mail submission size 20 MB--there is no submission size limit for memory cards.
3. All artwork must be original and must not infringe upon copyrights of others.
4. Designs should include:
• Almost Everything Logo
• Team motto: "Almost Everything & Nothing Else"
• Sample graphics on car(s). You may use use the sample cars attached to this press release or any car of your choice.
5. All submission artwork becomes the property of Almost Everything and Aene Automotive Corporation.
6. For us to contact the winner, submissions must include your name, address, e-mail and phone number.
7. Deadline: Entries must be received by 6:00 PM Pacific time on June 30, 2011
8. Winner will be announced July 16, 2011

Almost Everything Logo

Sample Race Car Images:
Aston Martin Vantage

Maserati MC12

Mazda RX7

Aston Martin Arrives at Geneva Motor Show This Week

81st Annual International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland

Aston Martin Announces 2011 AMR-One Racer for LeMans Series

Aston Martin AMR-One Racer

One of our regular favorites, Aston Martin will once again contest top tier racing with a new LeMans endurance machine in the LMP1 class.

Only six AMR-Ones will be produced. The first will be run by the factory team in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC.) Two others will run in other venues that have not yet been announced. Aston Martin says that the AMR-One race car shares design philosophy with the One-77 road car including carbon fibre monocoque.

Aston Martin One-77 Road Car

In 2010, Aston Martin Racing was on the winners' podium a lot. Aston placed in both of the American LeMans races it contested, 3rd at Sebring and 2nd in Long Beach.

In FIA-GT the DB9 came in 1st at the Nürburgring and 2nd at Silverstone, Brno and Navarra.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Aston DBR9 was 3rd in the LMGT1 Class.

Aston Martin at 2010 24 Hours of LeMans

There were more podium finishes and lots more races. See Aston Martin Racing for full results.

2010 Lola-Aston Martin LMP1 Racer

2011 Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black

More from the boys at Top Gear, here's the new Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black. We need one of these too.

If you fancy the color (or colour), we can make your car look like this. . . well, we can paint it the same hue. It's a special metallic & pearl black and available in all of our paint grades from the least expensive to our finest and most durable high-solids base-coat clear coat.

For the humorous (or is it humourous in "British"?) commentary plus more pics visit: http://www.topgear.com/UK/aston-martin/dbs/road-test/carbon-black-driven?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter

Maserati Wins 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship

Photo by FlashPhase

2010 FIA GT1 Champion Maserati Team & MC12s

Almost Everything Autobody celebrates Maserati's win in the FIA GT1 World Championship. GT racing is, in our humble opinion, the greatest racing in the world because it features cars that can actually be purchased and driven on real roads. Previously Maserati has won 5 consecutive FIA GT Manufacturers Cups from 2005-2009 with their dominating MC12. In 2005 Maserati beat 2nd place Ferrari by nearly 2x in the points standing! And now they have won the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, beating Aston Martin (another favorite), Corvette, Ford GT (okay, they are all favorites), Lamborghini & Nissan GT-R.







Maserati is near and dear to the hearts of the crew here at Almost Everything Autobody for 3 reasons.

The first, of course, is that Maserati has produced some of the most beautiful and fastest works of art in the history of man (we'll excuse them for everything that happened in the 1980s & 1990s.)

Second, since 2008 it has been a dream and is actually written into the employee manual & the business plan that Almost Everything Autobody will procure a Maserati Quattroporte to use as a customer courtesy shuttle. It was supposed to happen in Dec. 2010 but the past couple of years have been economically tough for everyone in the world as well as us here at Almost Everything so the plan has been pushed back. 2011 looks to be a good year for business and we are hopeful.

Third, Frank Barnard, Almost Everything Autobody's President, bought a Maserati-engined 1973 Citroën SM as his second car. Citroën is the French auto manufacturer that owned Maserati in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The SM was Citroën's flagship as well as a platform for the Maserati Merak.

Citroën SM

Congratulations to Maserati, the Vitaphone Racing Team and drivers Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini for their fantastic achievement. You are all welcome to stop by the shop anytime!

For more on the story, visit the Maserati website: http://www.maserati.com/maserati/en/en/index/maseraticorse/gt1-world/races/san-luis-magazine-2010/race.html?uid=6048745088&mid=600317332

Ferrari vs Aston Martin vs Lamborghini (and Jeremy vs Richard vs James)

From our dear friends at StreetFire.net and Top Gear, here's a short (1 hour) drive through Romania in 3 unbelievable convertables. Not to be missed. . .


Top Gear season 14 ep.1

2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: What I drove last night

From our good friends at AutoWeek, here's a nice article on one of our very favorite cars, the Aston Martin Vantage:

2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: What I drove last night

Aston Martin One-77

San Francisco International Auto Show

I spent a day at the San Francisco International Auto show with my father & friends this past weekend. SF Gate magazine actually published a photo of some of us, David Lehrer & his kids, in front of a Mini Cooper. David has been a great friend for 30 years and has probably been to the car show with me 25 times.

Let Downs:

Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead--I think my father got it right when he called it "a Dodge Ram on steroids." It's a whale of a car that isn't as ugly as the current Phantom but this 2-door convertible is surprisingly ungainly up close and one of the few cars that looks better in photos than it does in real life.


Acura--what happened to those beautiful cars from just a couple of years ago? I've gotten used to the "beaks" on the hood and I am drawn to the looks of the TL on the freeway but at the car show I got inside the cars for the first time. They seemed cramped and the interiors weren't as elegant as the previous models. The changes to make the RL look like the rest of the model line are pitiful. I can't be the only one to think so because I don't think I've ever seen one on the road.
Nissan & Infiniti--Where were they?

Surprises:

Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon--in the past few years I've really come to love station wagons. The CTS is a world class car and the Sport Wagon means you can have a lot of driving fun and still haul everything you need. This may be the best Cadillac since my favorites from the 1920's & 1930"s.


Honda Crosstour--Essentially a fastback version of the Accord. This updated design gives the car a handsome, unified look.


Hyundai Equus--A great follow-up to the well-received Genesis, the Equus is a very big car. It looks like the best from Lexus. The interior appears the equal or superior to any luxury brand and the exterior is (with the exception of the anime version of the "Spirit of Ecstasy" on the hood) is sleek, restrained & imposing in just the right way. The spokesperson at the display said that previous versions of the Equus were used by diplomats & statesmen in Korea.


Aston Martin--Okay, no real surprises here. Aston makes the most gorgeous cars on the planet right now.

Jury is Still Out:

Jaguar XJ--I have been a Jaguar fan my entire life. I still aspire to own a 1966-1968 S-Type and I think the exterior of the 2003-2009 aluminum-bodied XJ to be the most handsome evolution of the original 1968 body style (even if the interior wasn't.) The 2010 XJ is a big change and I'm not sure I like the gaping mouth on the front but I'm warming to it. The design, and especially the headlamps, work better than they did on the XF. The interior, from what I could see of it, looks intriguing: dark and a bit Blade-Runner/Matrix/5th Element-ish but with subtle splashes of chrome & sparks of light. I guess I'm convincing myself. Let's drive it!
Note: Image links from Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)