Chrysler unveils new ads to follow 'Halftime in America' campaign

A quartet of 60-second spots from the Chrysler/Fiat group launching this weekend comprises the next installment of the automaker's campaign that began famously during the Super Bowl with the two-minute "Halftime in America" commercial. Or, as Chrysler terms it, this is "the second half." The spots, all the work of ad agency Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, each aimed at a different company brand, are themed to the same "hope and encouragement" message delivered by Clint Eastwood in the campaign's first incarnation and continue the spirit of the "Imported from Detroit" motto. You can watch the ads at www.youtube.com/chrysler.

Early cars, fashion on display at the Petersen

Automotivated, a new exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, traces the evolution of clothes worn in cars--from the bulky circus-tent stuff people had to wear to keep from freezing to death in the jangly, open-topped conveyances of 100 years ago, up to the height of the European Concours in the 1920s and '30s, when what you and your date wore was just as important to winning best of show as the styling of your Delahaye/Delage/Talbot Lago. “In the earliest days of the automobile, you were sitting on the car, you weren't sitting in it,” said Leslie Kendall, curator at the Petersen. So the first section of the exhibit shows people (mannequins dressed as people) in heavy, practical overcoats, scarves and goggles.

Land Rover Freelander 2 off road video

The 2010 Land Rover Freelander 2 - Off Road We had the Land Rover Freelander 2 for a week recently and found it – as we do with all current Land Rover products – to be even better than you’d have thought. But what was quite surprising is how well the Freelander 2 manages the rough stuff. It’s true we didn’t go absolutely berserk with the off-roading, but we did far more than soft-roading at a boot sale.