At SEMA last year, the legendary shifter company Hurst made huge waves with its Hemi Challenger. We’ve been following Hurst’s progress of the cars ever since, and even got the chance to get behind the wheel of the prototype car for a brief stint. We recently made the trip down to Hurst Performance Vehicles’ headquarters in Irvine, CA to see just how stock Challengers are transformed into one of their limited edition muscle cars.

You might think that Hurst would be hard pressed to find customers in today’s economy, but we were surprised to see their building overflowing with Challengers. There were completely stock cars that had just been delivered, cars getting superchargers and suspension upgrades, and plenty of complete cars waiting to be delivered to their lucky new owners.

Hurst was kind enough to give us a full tour of the facility, and showed us exactly what goes into making one of their Challengers, whether it’s a base Series 2 model or a full blown Series 5 with all the bells and whistles. Follow us on our tour in the gallery below, which includes high-res photographs and detailed descriptions that follow a Hurst Challenger from start to finish.

From the impossible-to-kill Toyota pickup truck, to the amphibious cars the three presenters created to cross the English Channel, to the Reliant Robbin Space Shuttle they tried to put into orbit, our fondest memories of Top Gear over the years almost always seem to center around the ridiculous vehicular challenges that the show’s producers provide for Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.

Soon, anyone wishing to catch a first-hand glimpse of these machines will get their chance as the U.K.’s National Motor Museum just opened the doors to its new World of Top Gear exhibition. Also on display will be a full-scale reproduction of the stage where Top Gear is filmed before a live studio audience, the infamous Cool Wall, and the Celebrity Lap Time board.

As Yogi Berra once said, “This is like deja-vu all over again.” Yesterday was the deadline for parties to file objections to the General Motors asset sale, and several were indeed filed. If some of this sounds familiar, it’s because similar objections were filed during Chrysler’s bankruptcy proceedings. For instance, on Friday, attorneys general from 10 states jointly-filed an objection, saying that the so-called New GM’s “purchase of substantially all of the operating assets of the debtors should not include an impenetrable shield which insulates (the new GM) from all future product liability claims.” The AGs are upset because under the current plans, New GM basically won’t be held responsible for existing or future product liability claims related to vehicles sold before the formation of the new company. This echoes similar objections raised during the Chrysler proceedings, and if you use that as a measuring stick, things don’t look good for the AGs or the injured parties (present or future) on whose behalf they’re raising the objections. When the Supreme Court cleared the way for Chrysler’s sale to Fiat, similar claims filed by consumer groups were essentially denied. Fiat-owned “New Chrysler” is not responsible for prior liability claims, leaving injured parties with little to no recourse.

Joining the AGs were attorneys representing over 50,000 retired union steelworkers and engineers who stand to lose out on over $3B USD in retirement and health insurance benefits they were guaranteed under the Old GM, a company that will have little to no value once the asset sale to the new company is completed. As things stand, the retirees’ claim against Old GM is unsecured. Similarly, lawyers representing 1,500 other unsecured bondholders filed an objection saying that “Many of these family and noninstitutional bondholders are facing the prospect of significant losses of their retirement and life savings by the proposed GM restructuring, while simultaneously watching other unsecured creditors who by law are similarly situated receive disproportionately larger payments.” Translation: some unsecured bondholders are more equal than others.

Once again, these objections are similar to ones raised — and ultimately dismissed — during the Chrysler bankruptcy. While the GM bankruptcy is indeed a new and entirely separate process, the federal government — which will become the majority stakeholder in the New GM once it exits bankruptcy — would obviously like to see the GM proceedings move along and conclude in a manner similar to Chrysler’s.

With the objections officially filed, it’s all in the court’s hands. So now we wait to see what happens.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Irony Police: ‘73 Dodge Polara Air Pollution Control replica

Over at Clunkbucket, Mike Bumbeck has an “odd rod” feature highlighting one of the more interesting law-enforcement vehicles we’ve ever come across. Back in the early 70s, the Bay Area Pollution Control District decided to form a Vehicle Patrol section to issue citations to emissions scofflaws. Officers used a chart that told them what color color smoke was “good” or “bad” to determine whether the exhaust spewing from cars’ tailpipes was in compliance. Nowadays, this sort of endeavor would likely be carried out by humorless glorified metermaids in politically-correct Toyota Priuses. Back then, however, jauntily-dressed pollution-enforcement agents cruised the streets of San Francisco in specially-liveried Dodge Polara pursuit specials. Because, you know, when you think “clean air” you think “Dodge Polara.” Head over to Clunkbucket for plenty more photos, some additional program history, and details on the excellent replica you see above.

[Source: Clunkbucket | Photo: Mike Bumbeck]

Honda’s Euro-market Civic Type R hatchback has been called out for being a successor that hasn’t exactly succeeded. Seems a bit of the thrill is gone from the new car compared to the old one. Enter tuning firm Mugen, whose modifications to the Type R hatch should make it even better than it once was.

Not much is known about the changes in store. However, based on changes made for Mugen’s Japan-spec Civic Type RR 4-door sedan, these pictures, and the fact that this car might take on the Renault R26.R, you can expect much: upgraded suspension and 18-inch wheels, giant front splitter and rear wing, huge exhaust, and a powerplant putting out 237 bhp and 160 lb-ft.

The web is all about immediacy, and by that token, you should have seen these Greenwich Concours d’Elegance photos right after the event happened. Your humble correspondent, however, was juggling the Concours with his own family vacation preparations, and couldn’t deliver in a timely fashion. However, like Dick Nixon, I’m now tanned, rested and ready, so follow the jump for several themed photo galleries and the annual rundown on what you missed if you weren’t able to make the stop in Greenwich,

General Motors can clearly use all the money it can get, and for the 2010 model year, you’ll have to fork over more of it to get behind the wheel of a ZR1. The 2010 638 hp supercar will cost you $109,530; an increase of $2,910 over last year’s model. A larger MSRP isn’t a good thing, but according to Corvette Blogger, many dealers were already charging $10,000 over sticker for an ‘09 model, so this could be the General’s way of getting a little bigger piece of the action.

For all that dough, you still get the most powerful production Vette of all-time – and a few new items as well. The 2010 model now comes with standard side curtain airbags, launch control and Performance Traction Management System. PTMS, by the way, gives the driver more control over traction settings when in competition mode.

We’ve been telling you that Chrysler’s PT Cruiser is destined for death for years now, yet the little wagon continues to endure. Inside Line is reporting that the PT has yet again escaped the gallow’s pole, and instead the Little Paddy Wagon That Could will soldier on until December 2010.

The move will reportedly keep Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico plant running until the Fiat 500 and Panda arrive to fill the space. Inside Line says the two models will be built at the site beginning summer 2011, and the six or so months between the final demise of the PT and the beginning of the Fiat era will be utilize to retool the facility.

With the PT Cruiser possibly around for another year and a half, we have no choice but to continue to “enjoy” its retro-ness. Heck, with an 11-year-old platform and a design that hasn’t changed much since its inception, the little PT is practically a living, breathing classic car in its own right.

[Source: Inside Line]

After the House and Senate agreed on the terms of a cut-down version of the Cash for Clunkers legislation, it passed the house on Tuesday by a narrow margin (226-202) after being added as a supplemental appropriations bill to continue funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Per the previous agreement, the new bill only contains $1 billion for the program, about a quarter of what was originally proposed, and will only extend through the 2010 fiscal year, ending on September 30.

The $3,500 and $4,500 vouchers for consumers remain intact, along with the 18 mpg provision, and there’s a movement underfoot to get the legislation prolonged passed the 2010 fiscal year. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later today and if all goes well, it should land on the President’s desk this week.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req. | Image: Theo Heimann/Getty]