This paper presents a framework for distributed in-vehicle real-time applications. The framework is based on a client/server and emitter/receiver models with real-time extensions. The system allows the exchange of distributed data objects between calculators interconnected by a network bus. A dynamic reconfiguration and fault detection mechanisms are developed to ensure a reliable system. Interactions between processes are performed using the IEEE-1394 bus and are modeled as invocations to communicating active objects via an Object Oriented middleware called SCOOT-R that we developed. Finally, we present a typical automotive application involving our system: real-time accurate vehicle positioning on a digital map.