Despite being recently ratified, the IEEE 802.11p Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) 5.9 GHz standard for vehicle-to-vehicle communication still does not have a large number of supported radios available. This paper outlines the development of an 802.11p communication system with adjustable transmission power. The key components of the system were a Linux-powered embedded system and a 5.9 GHz mini-PCI RF transceiver. The software driver controlling the RF transceiver had been developed to facilitate communication in the DSRC frequency range of 5.85 GHz to 5.92 GHz. A spectrum analyzer was used to validate the central operating frequency of 5.9 GHz. Additionally, an indoor test confirmed communication between two units at a distance of 15 m. In a vehicle-to-vehicle test, packet loss of less than 1% was demonstrated when two vehicles traveled together at 60 km/h at a distance of approximately 150 m. In the vehicle-to-infrastructure test, an average distance of 405 m was measured.