Chrysler to Approve Only 150 Dealers Nationwide to Sell SRT Viper, and More

If you walk into your local Chrysler dealership to put a down payment on a new Viper, don’t be surprised if you’re told to go elsewhere. That’s because Chrysler will “approve” only about 150 dealers—out of more than 2300 nationwide—to sell the 640-horsepower car. Dealers will be getting letters this week telling them how they can qualify to receive a Viper to sell.

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The racing debut of the Delta Wing, the oddest and most closely watched entry in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, came to an abrupt halt early in the race when it was bunted into the fence by another car. The team isn’t waiting until next year to try again, but has instead entered the 10-hour/1000-mile Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in October. The Delta Wing is powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbocharged Nissan engine, and features a pair of 4-inch-wide tires in its narrow nose.

While the sound of a high-revving Formula 1 engine might be music to race fans’ ears, it’s not particularly musical in the conventional sense. Except for this Infiniti Red Bull F1 car, which played an off-key but recognizable version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in New York’s Liberty Park, with Lady Liberty herself in the audience.

Carmakers are always looking for way to reduce their cars’ emissions, but Audi is taking a radical step—producing its own synthetic fuels using a photosynthetic microorganism, solar power, wastewater, and CO2. Audi and partner Joule, a U.S.-based company, plan to produce what they're calling e-ethanol and e-diesel at a plant in New Mexico.

The University of California, Riverside, has released a study that says the nation’s charbroilers—like those in most fast-food restaurants—produce the same mass of particles cooking one beef patty as a diesel truck traveling 143 miles does at highway speeds. The study goes on to say that commercial cooking is the second-largest cause of pollution in the Golden State.