BMW Alpina 5-Series Wagon with 2 Turbos

Visit Autoblog.com to see Alpina B5 Touring

I'm not ashamed to admit that I've become my parents. My most recent car is a station wagon. I needed more room to haul stuff but I wasn't interested in a top-heavy SUV. So I got a BMW wagon. I love it. I haul auto parts, scuba gear and dogs and it still goes like stink, handles like a BMW and gets 25 mpg (which is good with the way I drive.)

Autoblog.com posted a series of photos of the Alpina-modified version of the new BMW 5-Series wagon (BMW calls their station wagons "tourings.") What Alpina is famous for is taking a quick BMW and making it seriously fast. They've been at it since 1961 so they're getting pretty good at it. This new wagon sports a twin-turbo 4.4L V8 that is good for 0-100 kph (62 mph) in 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 187 mph (307 kph). Did I mention it's a station wagon? Sign me up--Frank

Almost Everything Welcomes Intern Jinkie

Student Intern Jinkie working at Almost Everything Autobody 

Almost Everything Autobody welcomes our most recent intern, Jinkie. She comes to us from the College of Alameda and the California School for the Deaf here in Fremont. Jinkie has been studying auto body repair at school. She's proud to be a woman in what is often thought of as a male dominated field (although Jinkie is certainly not Almost Everything Autobody's first female employee.)

Jinkie is helping to prep cars for paint by learning to remove pinstripes and decals and to protect chrome mouldings in preparation for sanding.

2006 Land Rover Range Rover Sport With Auto collision repair

Today's Car of the Day is a 2006 Land Rover Range Rover Sport that came in with front end damage. The front bumper cover was torn off and the right fender was dented. Almost Everything Autobody replaced the front bumper cover with a new part from the dealer, along with new brackets, headlamp washer nozzle's and lower spoiler parts. Almost Everything Autobody repaired the dents on the right fender. Almost Everything Autobody painted the right fender, front bumper cover and blended the right front door for a better color match. Almost Everything Autobody used the same quality paint used by the manufacturer. Almost Everything Autobody also buffed out scratches on the hood and headlamps.

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2012 Fisker Karma First Drive

The Fisker Karma is a plug-in electric, sexy as all get out, high performance, 4 door exotic hybrid that may actually be capable of 100 mpg AND 0-60 mph (approx. 0-100 kph) in under 6 seconds. Initial test drives report that it handles brilliantly--better than any other car this size (a bit hard to believe but we at Almost Everything Autobody are intrigued enough to think that this might be an alternative to our Maserati Quattroporte fetish.)

For more pictures and a full article on the initial test drives, visit AutoBlog.

Rookie Trevor Bayne Wins Daytona 500

Congratulations to 20 year old Trevor Bayne, the youngest person to ever win NASCAR's Daytona 500. He didn't have a full time Sprint Cup sponsor before the race. Hopefully that has now changed.

2011 Ford Mustang Bumper Repair

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Today's Car of the Day is a brand new Mustang that was involved in a minor accident that left the bumper scraped-up. Almost Everything Autobody disassembled the bumper repaired the scrapes and matched the original factory paint. You can't tell anything ever happened.

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What's an Alfa Romeo?

2012 Alfa Romeo 4c Concept Drawing

This! And if the 4c is brought to market, then it is high time Alfa came back to the United States! While you're at it, make sure Alfa brings along the 8c, 159 and GT too! The Axis of Overstear gods posted this sneak peak on their site and are reporting that the 4c will enter production in 2012, perform like a Porsche Cayman S and cost less.

For those without heart conditions, you may want to check-out this video demonstrating how to "polish" an Alfa Romeo 8c Spyder. WARNING: Not necessarily safe for work!

Bahrain Formula 1 Race Looks Like It's Toast

Update Feb. 21, 2011: Bahrain Gran Prix has indeed been cancelled.

Bulletin from our buddy Roy Seay at Almost Everything-Lubbock and SpeedTV, it looks like Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One CEO, might need to pull the plug on the March 13 Bahrain Gran Prix due to the political upheaval in that country. Stay tuned.

Waltrip Wins Daytona Truck Race on 10th Anniversary of Earnhardt's Death

Congratulations to Michael Waltrip for winning one of the biggest truck races, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway. See video of Waltrip as he climbs out of his vehicle at the conclusion of the race. It was an emotional victory as it comes 10 years after his previous Daytona 500 victory and 10 years after the crash that caused Dale Earnhardt's death at the raceway:


www.NASCAR.com

Live from the Detroit Autorama

1962 Ford Thunderbird Custom

This year's Detroit Autorama featured some amazing custom bodywork & paint. My personal favorite is this 1962 Thunderbird with even more outrageous rocketship styling than the original. It reminds me of watching reruns of 1930s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials with my father--Frank

Beautiful, understated 1951 Mercury Custom

Replica of Barney Oldfield Miller Golden Submarine racer

BMW Isetta with engine upgrade

Chip Foose "P-32" roadster, with Lincoln Zephyr engine

Divco Milk Truck with combination
clutch/brake pedal and dual gas
pedals

Please remember to vote for us as best bodyshop in the San Francisco Bay Area! Just click this link!

2000 Dodge Dakota pick up with Auto paint

Today's Car of the Day is a 2000 Dodge Dakota pick up that came in with three different colors. The customer replaced the right doors due to a previous accident. Almost Everything Autobody repaired a dent on the right side of the cab caused by the collision. Almost Everything Autobody prepped the entire truck for a complete paint job to a single color. Almost Everything Autobody painted with the Presidential paint service.

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1982 GMC C1500 Pick up with Auto bodywork

Today's Car of the Day is 1982 GMC C1500 pick up that came in need of Auto bodywork and paint. Almost Everything Autobody repaired old bodywork, prepped the truck for paint and painted with the Supreme paint service. The customer requested to change the color to a black cherry metallic. Now the truck looks really good.

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Surviving a Sinking Car

Richard Hammond may be a real life Kenny in the U.K. We like Richard and hope he continues to survive these attempts on his life. . . by his friends.

On a more serious note, a tragedy happened to a young boy in this part of California a few weeks back. I'm a long-time scuba diver and I've always assumed that drivers who die underwater in their cars were drunk, asleep or otherwise incapacitated before hitting the water. After seeing these videos, I understand what should have been obvious to me from scuba. Watch Top Gear's Richard and learn something that could one day save your life--Frank

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with Auto bodywork and paint

Today's Car of the Day is a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser that had the windshield replaced (not at Almost Everything Autobody) and the left front upper fender panel was removed in order to change it. The customer was driving on the freeway and the part flew up (the part had broken clips). Almost Everything Autobody installed a new part from the dealer and painted to match the rest of the car.

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Ford & Ferrari at it Yet Again!

From our buddies at Axis of Oversteer we find an amusing and, apparently, true legal tidbit. Ford sued Ferrari this week over Ferrari's announcement that their new Formula 1 racer would be designated F150 (for Ferrari-150th Anniversary of the unification of Italy.) Ford contends that it would dilute the brand of their iconic and best-selling pick-up truck, the F-150. Ferrari quickly agreed to change the name, saying that they had not intended anyone to think that their race car was related to a Ford truck. The proposed new name is the F150th Italia. We say, "Ford, drop the suit and settle this like gentlemen. . . just like you did in 1963." The remake of the Ford GT40 just whet our appetites for a new Ferrari-Ford duel. You have Almost Everything Autobody's blessing to do it in either F1 or LeMans-style racing.