The only saving grace is the hot-rod that is the (deep breath) Amazon Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE.

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All of that means these future cars, like their hot-rod ancestors of the 1950s, are graded on style as much as speed.

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Better yet for the manufacturers, they don't have to deal with support costs on a lot of these boxes because the gamers gleefully break their warranties in pursuit of the most tricked-out, custom hot-rod-PC money can buy.

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Privacy has become a hot-rod issue.

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Aided by such talent, in 2003 Shark became world champion at 14 in the Melges 24, a five-person hot rod of a sailboat that can do 20 knots-plus with a stiff wind behind it.

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Like a teenager still excited about his new hot rod, the 54-year-old executive boasts about Endeavour's tendency to thrust her knifelike bow almost completely out of the water.

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ESPN2-HD (720p): Hot Rod TV (6:30 p.m.), NFL Live (7 p.m.), College Football Live (7:30 p.m.), CFB: Marshall vs.

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The National Hot Rod Association, which represents professional drag-racing, has also tried to help, encouraging affiliated tracks to open their facilities to street-racers for safe, controlled contests.

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