Automopedia’s Best of 2010 – what are the Top 10 articles from the last 12 months? It’s been a memorable year: with green cars, celebrities, Jesus Christ and a saved pooch. We went to auto shows, on road trips and ate cheese steaks inside an all new Audi R8 (that last part may be a white lie). Here’s our best of the best in 2010:

Jesus H. Christ – I’ve Been Hit by a Car!

Lord Jesus Christ was hit by a Monte Carlo in Mass during the year. Pray for him.

Dog Saved By Jumping Into Car Bumper

A Chilean driver in his Citroen struck a dog while cruising. The doggy miraculously flew inside of the car’s bumper, taking shelter under the grill until being gently removed by mechanics.

Zombies Crash In Portland

A car full of zombies crashed off a highway in Protland, confusing onlookers, and forcing police and fire officials to break out machine guns and a 5-ton armored semi-truck.

2010 Quebec Auto Show: Lambo, The French & Poutine

We’re headed directly to Quebec City and not just for the poutine! It’s time for 2010?s Quebec Auto Show. And Lamborghini will be there to present a slew of exotic cars as part of their “Expo Lambo” event.

2010 Philadelphia Auto Show

Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love. The land of cheese steaks, Phillies, them Iigles and the best Italian Market this side of the Atlantic. It’s also home to the 2010 Philadelphia International Auto Show.

Buy Truck, Get AK-47

If you’re looking for a good used truck near Orlando Fla, Nations Trucks has the ride for you. What else can they offer? How about Hundreds off a pre-owned Dodge Ram or Ford F-250, affordable financing on all models… oh and a free AK-47 with your purchase.

Automopedia’s Guide To Sharing The Road

We at Automopedia love sharing the road with our fellow bicyclists. Yes, you read that correctly. Unlike other motor-heads who loath the sight of a bike on their street, we embrace our two-wheeled pedal brethren…mostly because many of us are avid cyclists.

The 10 Other Best Songs To Test Your Stereo With

We went through the iTunes of all Automopedia employees to bring you the hottest, freshest, most stereo-breaking tunes to bust out when you want to make sure Best Buy didn’t drop a weak system into your hooptie.

BP’s Lack of Photoshopping Skills

British Petroleum can’t seem to great a break these days – maybe that’s because they caused a huge oil leak pumping black sludge into the Gulf of Mexico for almost three months. But they’re trying their hardest to be everyone’s friend, and remind you how great it is to have oil.

Automopedia’s Earth Day Green Car Review

What’s the latest trend in Green Car Technology? For Earth Day 2010, we’re taking a look at what’s new and improved in the world of eco-friendly tech.

What would you, the faithful reader, like to see more of at Automopedia? We’ve brought you the lighter side of the auto industry, but also kept you up on news from car companies globally. We post funny commercials, blogs on scifi ships and pimped out rides.

So what can Automopedia do for you now? Leave us a comment, we’d like to know what you think of us!

Our friends over at AutoMD may be the most dedicated auto writers and researchers ever – they went around to auto repair and service centers nationwide to calculate the best and worst in the industry. We know, every mechanic is trying to scam the last buck out of your wallet…or are they? AutoMD.com released its Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report, the first to analyze how how service centers providing fair cost estimates.

AutoMD.com mystery shoppers visited over 600 shops in the top-50 most populated cities in America, which included “mom & pop” repair facilities, dealership service centers and franchises (ie: Pep Boys, NTB, etc.) – According to the report: To measure pricing integrity, the mystery shoppers called back two weeks later with an industry standard price estimate. The best and worst list was then calculated based on each city‘s rankings for three critical factors, weighted equally:

1. Repair Affordability: The average cost-per-job for that city based on prices quoted by repair shops
2. Price Disparity Range: The percentage variance between the lowest price quoted and the highest price quoted in each market
3. Shop Integrity Factor: The percentage of shops that shifted their original quoted price by more than 5% when presented with an industry standard price estimate

In AutoMD’s report, Memphis ranked as the best city for fairness and consistency of prices quoted. Chicago, the windy city and home to Molly’s Cupcakes, ranked as the worst. Here’s the 5 Top & Bottom cities:

Thanks to Dan & AutoMD for the heads up on this great research!

Just when it seemed like there wasn’t enough whipped cream left to huff after Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, we turn to gasoline – but experts now believe fumes from pumping gasoline can increase incidents of road rage. Several tests conducted using rats at Cairo University showed exposing the little vermin to gas fumes caused them to become more irritated and thus, more aggressive then ones breathing regular air. Prolonged exposure also caused “brains experienced changes in neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus, hippocampus and cerebellum.” – We have no clue what any of that means, but it sounds very scientific!

After dissecting the animals’ brains, results showed “Rats exposed to unleaded gasoline showed indications of increased damage caused by free radicals and altered levels of neurotransmitters in the brain cortex region…” compared to those breathing leaded gasoline, according to Amal Kinawy, a scientist who was in charge of this study. We at Automopedia feel this theory is bull-dookie – case in point: New Jersey drivers do not pump their own gasoline, thus breath in little-to-no fumes. And were on the NJ Turnpike this past weekend? It’s like a NASCAR race! Sounds like another study needs to be funded. Thanks for killing our buzz, Wired.

Welcome to Automopedia’s worst of the week – we take a look back at some of the more embarrassing auto news stories from around the globe – and these past 5 days were a dozy!

Bugatti Veyron Goes for a Swim

Someone did not inform this Bugatti driver their new roadsters don’t float. The lake crash of a $1.6 Million Dollar luxury sports car had automotive enthusiasts shouting “Mama Mia!!” – The accident occurred in Southeast Texas – which leaves us with about 1.6 million redneck jokes to make, oddly enough. According to one local news report: “The man, who refused to give his name, was looking at real estate in Galveston. About 3 p.m. a low-flying pelican distracted him as he traveled north on Interstate 45 just south of the hurricane levee near Omega Bay. The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the car’s front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to maneuver away from the lagoon.”

Bob Lutz Resurrects Buick Regal

Rendering Credit: Tagline

The same company that axed all Pontiac production in favor of Buick (HA!) announced this week Regal will be back, along with a 335 horse power edition AND a wagon variant, for sale within a year. Yes, they are trying to recapture the youth market, via Bob Lutz, and Buick. Yeah, it makes sense to them – we’ll just sit back and watch it all crumble.

Still No Deals for F1

Finally in this week’s fail boat – F1 & Bernie Ecclestone get no respect lately – first off, pretty much every major auto maker pulls out of F1 races, and now the 2010 British Grand Prix may be scrapped. Montreal has already lost out on a race this year and possibly next – after several grand prix bids collapsed, the F1 chief execs have been locked in apparently stalled negotiations about the commercial terms of a long term contract. Safe to say if F1 news keep stumbling in this direction we will all have to start watching more NASCAR. Please, don’t let that happen.

There has always been a unwritten war between automotive enthusiasts and bicycles. Major metropolitan areas have designated bike lanes running across most major roads – of course don’t expect the pot holes or post-storm debris to be cleared from those areas. In the UK, highway officials seem to be slightly annoyed at the painting of bicycle lanes on their roads – and have sent a clear message for those on two-wheels & pedals.

from Jalopnik via The Guardian

Today the official tally of Cash For Clunkers trade-ins was released. Most of the cars given up to sacrifice to the automotive GOD’s are predictable – but there are a few surprising (newer) models. Some of the more shocking vehicles on the Cash 4 Clunkers trade in list include 2004 & 2005 Chevy Astro Vans, hundreds of El Caminos (bastards! hang them by their thumbs!) and a…ready for this…2008 Dodge Avenger.

Now I know the Avenger isn’t the hottest automobile to come off the CDJ line in years, but I had no idea it fit in the category of tradable cars, with gas mileage, etc. Perhaps it was a sympathy trade for whoever bought one.

In all the C4C .pdf reads like a death list. Thousands of cars were junked in the United States alone – not counting the other countries who participated. In the end, this plan may have helped auto assembly lines for a short time, but did the buyers/dealers involved with C4C really get the best of this government initiated program?

Excitement abound as we approach the finals weeks before a much anticipated 2009 Frankfurt motor Show. Honestly, we at Automopedia are very happy to see numerous concepts and refreshed rides hitting the floors in Germany – Come on, in this global economy did you expect to see any updated looks? There’s going to be plenty of side action, as noted auto designer Wiesmann will “build a car” live during Frankfurt’s event…well, actually they will have “Wiesmann engineers put the finishing touches on a GT MF4 during the Frankfurt Motor Show introduction of the brand’s new BMW V10-powered GT MF5 Roadster.”

Response to the Mini Coupe Concept, which broke earlier this week, has been positive. So, we know everyone wants to check Mini out, but how bout some of the vehicles we featured in our 2009 Frankfurt Preview? Have a look and choose with our official poll – what YOUR favorite new car to be introduced at Frankfurt will be. Don’t see a car you like? Write it in below!

The 2009 Frankfurt Motor/Auto Show, ready to go in September, looks to be revving up for one of the greatest years in automotive concepts. The Global economy may be hurting some makers, but it looks as though R&D is still receiving funds. Frankfurt is setting up a few interesting new looks, from Jaguar’s all new XJ to the Mazda MX-5 “Superlight” and Audi’s sexy Sportback, we’re betting you’ll be stunned visually this fall. Not all the car companies will show off new curves. The VW California Van, Volvo’s XC60 R-Design and BMW’s 7 Series ActiveHybrid will focus more on what’s underneath – working out new alternative fueling systems. In the end, these companies may win points for adaption – in world where petrol might become a fossil itself, so to speak.

Other manufacturers are keeping their 2010 – 2011 models under tight wraps. Until the 17th of September, auto enthusiasts will only have concepts and spy shots of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Kia C’eed and Lexus CT Hybrid. Heck, only yesterday did Mini Cooper reveal its Coupe Concept, which helped them ring in their 50th Anniversary. Enough words! Enjoy Automopedia’s photo-preview of the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, kicking off in Germany Sept. 17th – 27th.

[nggallery id=4]

Update – C4C on life support – Stays Alive until Noon Tuesday! Well, sort of. Dealers have until noon tomorrow to file for reimbursements

Much like Capt. Willard and Colonel Kurtz, car buyer and our government have traveled up river to find a common ground – to save their auto industry, or have it put down. Regardless of the outcome, that journey is over, Cash for Clunkers is coming to an End. How will history books record C4C? Will it be a rousing success for the automotive industry in America? Or a triumphant waste of time for the American People? Some experts are doubting the “Environmental Impact” of C4C, which was one of its main selling points. Others claim it to be the greatest thing to happen since the invention of seat belts. You can’t doubt a big turnout, as this past weekend had dealer lots packed with voucher-waving customers. The Department of Labor is shipping in workers to help relocated junked cars, and thousands of assembly lines across the country have rehired laid-off employees due to new vehicle demand.. And lets face it, if the CARS Act wasn’t successful, would so many other countries be mimicking it?

Canadian Cash For Clunkers

Canada saw it’s version of C4C kick in last week, which offers upwards of (are you ready??) … $300 dollars per trade in. Chrysler Canada has announced they will match and even beat this number if you come pick up a new CDJ vehicle – upwards of $1500 on top of the $300. (source: Canada.com)

Viva La Clunkers! Cash for Clunkers Chile

The government of Chile is currently trying a similar program, in order to “stimulate new truck sales” in the country. Chilean officials agreed to introduce $4 billion Chilean pesos ($7.3 million USD) to subsidize consumers buying new trucks, thus relieving the roads of 500 old ones built before 1984, which produce higher emissions than newer models. Sales of new heavy trucks plummeted 51% in the first seven months of 2009 – hopes are 250 new vehicles will hit the pavement this year and 250 more in 2010. (source: WSJ)

Ich Bein Ein Clunker! C4C in Germany

Clunkers are being taken off the road in Germany as well, but not only thanks to a C4C-type program: thieves are grabbing beaters from German streets and selling them in for cash. Then the cars (approx. 50,000) are shipped out of the country, given another chance to pollute. Some of the vehicle destinations include Africa and Eastern Europe. Maybe Lt. Aldo Raine needs to have a word with these German car thieves. (source: treehugger.com)

As tens-of-thousands of Americans still wait for their Gov’t Endorsed Vouchers, 100,000 more are rolling out of dealerships in a new, or pre-owned, fuel-efficient rides. But, as with any government program, we may have to wait and discover just how successful C4C really was.