Batman Themed Kia Optima
DC Entertainment is leading a charity campaign called “We Can Be Heroes” to raise awareness of hunger in The Horn of Africa. With help from artist Jim Lee and Rides magazine, Kia has joined the Justice League with a Batman-themed Optima SX apparently inspired by the Dark Knight’s darkest nights.
Looking like Batman went to SEMA, a set of coilovers gets the Optima SX hunkered down over an intense bodykit and 20-inch wheels. The exterior is done in matte black and piano black, but a carpet of yellow LEDs will make sure it never gets lost in the night – they even shine from behind the massive brakes, the Batwing-shaped grille and the HID headlights etched with the Bat-Signal. The interior gets lots of black leather with Batman logos, “utility throwing stars” in the console and a Batsuit and cowl in the trunk.
The one-off Kia will be unveiled in Gotham City, and it’s the first of eight custom Kias playing doppelgangers to DC characters. There’s more about it in the press release below, and NYC’s Time Warner Center is where you want to be to see it in person.
The All New 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Will Make First Appearance January 13
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/10/18/chevrolet-reveals-the-2014-corvette-logo-slideshow/
By Jonathan Welsh
Chevrolet today said it will unveil its 2014 Corvette sports car Sunday evening, Jan. 13, during press previews for the Detroit auto show.While the company is not yet showing pictures to hint at the car’s design, it did reveal its crossed-flag logo, which it redesigned for the seventh-generation “Vette.”The coming model, also called the C7, is expected to have a sharper, more modern exterior design, but the biggest changes are likely to appear in its cabin.The Corvette has long been regarded as the equal of many exotic European sports cars in performance, but not interior décor. Indeed, much of current and past Corvette’s interior looks like it was borrowed from rental cars. People familiar with the next Corvette’s design say the interior is much-improved.For now, all we have to go on is the logo. The crossed flags (one black and white checkered flag and a red Chevrolet flag) have adorned the Corvette since its 1953 debut. Its design has evolved over the years. Chevrolet said the new design has a “more technical, more angular and more swept appearance – in proportion that symbolizes the new car.”The General Motors Co. unit said it considered more than 100 versions before deciding on the final one.Interestingly, the first Corvette concept car, shown in New York on Jan. 17, 1953, featured an emblem with a checkered flag crossed with an American flag. Because such commercial use of the stars and stripes was prohibited, Chevy changed the logo to the fleur-de-lis/bowtie design for the production car.