Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Ford Ford debuted the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible earlier today at the Chicago Auto Show, but it wasn't the only Mustang vying for our attention on the show floor. In fact, we had a hard time keeping our eyes off this Vibrant Red beauty. The pony car in question? A 1993 SVT Cobra R, the pinnacle of the Fox Body Mustang. The standard SVT Cobra made its official debut at the Chicago Auto Show ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Truck, Ram The Chicago Auto Show was commonly known for years as a truck show, with automakers using the McCormick Place to show off their sport-utility vehicles and pickups. And while trends have indeed shifted in the automotive world (SUV is a dirty word these days), some companies still take time to debut a special truck or two here in the Windy City. Ram, Chrysler's pickup truck arm, has brought its new 2012 L...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Crossover, Jeep, Design/Style, Off-Road Mopar didn't leave Jeep out of the customized fun here at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Based on the Compass, the 2012 Mopar True North boasts a two-inch suspension lift from Rocky Road Suspensions and 16-inch matte black wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich All Terrain tires. Other exterior tidbits include a matte black grille surround and lower body cladding. There aren't any chan...

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Ram The Super Bowl ad for the Chevrolet Silverado shows that the rivalry between Chevrolet and Ford still rages strong. But is there room for another brand or two to mix it up in the battle for pickup supremacy? Not according to General Motors marketing chief Joel Ewanick. Fox News reports that Ewanick said during a web chat on Jalopnik that "the two big players are Ford and Chevy." Ewanick added that it...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, SUV, Toyota Look very, very closely. This is the 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser, which, though not immediately apparent, is different than the 2012 model. How, exactly? The updated SUV has new features like LED running lamps up front, a revised taillamp design and some new wheel options. Inside, there's a brand new hard drive-based navigation system complete with Toyota's fancy new Entune infotainment system. Aside fro...

Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, Europe, Maybach, Earnings/Financials, Luxury Daimler is shuttering Maybach in 2013 after seven years of production. In that time, the company's ultra-ultra-luxury arm managed to sell just 3,000 units, and CAR reports Daimler lost somewhere around $500,000 on each and every one of them. Even with a ludicrous price tag of over $370,000 for an "entry" Maybach 57, the brand couldn't quite recoup the dizzying $1.33 bi...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Hatchback, Design/Style, Fiat Now that Fiat is officially tied at the hip with Chrysler, it's no surprise to see the Pentastar's aftermarket division take to the diminutive 500 like a honeybee to clovers (sorry). Which explains the 2012 Fiat 500 Stinger, the first Mopar-fettled Fiat ever created. The Stinger moniker seems to come from the machine's black and yellow paint scheme, which includes a somewhat homely s...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show Detroit has the North American Car and Truck of the Year. Chicago? The Family Vehicle of the Year. And for 2012, the winner is the Volkswagen Passat. While we must have missed last year's inaugural winner - it was the Hyundai Sonata, by the way - we did catch this year's award presentation. The Passat beat out two other finalists, the Ford Explorer and Mazda5, in the voting of 68 automotive journalists. Those car ...

Filed under: Aftermarket, Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Performance, Chevrolet, Luxury Our first face-to-face look at the murdered-out Mopar 300 occurred at the Chicago Auto Show today. Peel away the black hood and you will find the the company's familiar 5.7-liter V8 as standard equipment. Output remains at 363 horsepower, but a new final-drive ratio of 3.91:1 working in conjunction with its five-speed W5A580 automatic transmission should drop 0-60...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Minivan/Van, Work, Nissan Nissan is expanding the company's commercial offerings with its new NV200 Compact Cargo Van. On display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, the NV200 is positioned just below Nissan's mammoth NV Cargo, and should offer buyers a more efficient work vehicle with plenty of interior room. The NV200 is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT gearbox. Despite its pint-sized power...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Kia, Luxury While Chrysler got the most attention for its Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood, many found Kia's spot starring Mr. Sandman, Adriana Lima and Motley Crue to be the most entertaining. The car featured in the ad was the new Optima SX Limited, which made its debut today at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. The SX Limited is the new range-topping trim for the Optima, slotting neatly above the SX. Wha...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Convertible, Mazda The Chicago Auto Show and the Mazda MX-5 Miata have quite a history. After all, the very first Miata debuted at the 1989 Chicago show, and since then, Mazda has routinely used the Windy City expo to showcase some sort of new roadster hotness. For 2012, we've been introduced to the MX-5 Special Edition (clever name, we know), which dons a new black power retractable hard top and gunmetal wheels,...

Filed under: Sedan, Hatchback, Toyota, Fiat The Fiat 500 is 139 inches of A-segment fury, with a heaping dose of cute and a dash of fuel efficiency. In fact, the manual transmission-equipped cinquecento averages 33 miles per gallon in mixed driving, which is better than most things on the road. Impressed? Toyota isn't. The Detroit Free Press reports that the Japanese automaker told dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association meeting ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, Ford Slather on an extra glob of Gorilla Glue adhesive, as the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Convertible is going to seriously strain hairpieces. Like its GT500 Coupe sibling, introduced late last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the drop-top is fitted with a supercharged 5.8-liter V8 making an astounding 650 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, which makes it the most powerful eig...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Dodge, Design/Style There's a lot of history wrapped up in the 2013 Dodge Dart GTS 210 Tribute. For starters, it's supposed to commemorate 75 years of Mopar, which, in case you're wondering, stands for MOtor PARts, Chrysler's in-house go-fast aftermarket division. Second, the GTS Tribute harkens back to the Dart of old, which was built between 1960 and 1976, and specifically the GTS model of the late 1960s...

Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota During the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota said the new Prius C would start at under $19,000. Today, we learn that this is like a lesson from Obi-Wan: what Toyota told us was true, from a certain point of view. The base level Prius C One's MSRP is indeed $18,950, but that doesn't include a $760 destination charge, and you can easily spend north of $23,000 for the top-of-the-line Prius C Four. Still, that's a raging deal fo...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Coupe, Budget, Hyundai In addition to the GT hatchback, Hyundai also rolled out a new Coupe version of the C-segment Elantra here at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. The new two-door is clearly meant to take on the likes of the Honda Civic Coupe, and it's got a spec sheet that compares rather favorably with its competitor from Japan. For starters, the 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe rides on a wheelbase that's three inches...

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari It's not every day that Ferrari unveils a new model. And most of the time, when it does, it's a variant of an existing one. But when the doors open at the Geneva Motor Show next month, word has it that the House that Enzo Built will be showcasing an all-new front-engined V12 GT to replace the long-serving 599. Dubbed F620, the all-new supercar is expected to pack a 6.2-liter version of...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Hatchback, Hyundai After driving the 2013 Elantra GT out on stage here in Chicago, Hyundai executives immediately focused on one of its new five-door's core values: lightness. You see, the GT is the lightest C-segment hatchback in the United States, weighing 151 pounds less than a Mazda3, 175 pounds less than a Ford Focus and 222 pounds less than the fatty-fat-fat Volkswagen Golf. Even so, the Elantra GT has the m...

Filed under: Coupe, Etc., Videos, Scion Drifting champ and Scion spokesdriver Ken Gushi narrowly missed a deer while shooting a spot for the Scion FR-S, and the helicopter camera crew caught the entire ordeal in glorious high-def. Gushi and crew were filming at Mt. Diablo State Park in Northern California when the close encounter took place, and by close, we're not talking feet, we're talking inches. Always the marketing pro, Gushi went on to ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Coupe, Volkswagen, Diesel Volkswagen unveiled an oil-burning variant of its new, but not New, Beetle at the Chicago Auto Show today and under the hood is the automaker's familiar turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel engine sending power to the front wheels. Despite developing just 140 horsepower, its torque rating of 236 pound-feet will help the latest Bug really scoot - the automaker says this is the sportiest applicat...

Filed under: Concept Cars, Performance, Hatchback, Kia It's not like we needed any more reason to like the Soul, but Kia went ahead and debuted the Track'ster concept at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show anyway. The Track'ster is a three-door, all-wheel-drive, 250-hp version of the cute and quirky urban Soul that we hope gets green lights all along its road to production. That's wishful thinking, but follow along to find out why we want the Track'ster ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Nissan By defanged, we mean, of course, that the 2013 Nissan 370Z no longer sports vampish extensions of its front fascia. We don't mean to imply that its down on power - the carryover 3.7-liter V6 still puts out 332 horsepower, and the NISMO's 3.7-liter is still blessed with 350 horses. Besides the change to its face, it'll take an astute observer to spot the differences between ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Crossover, GM, GMC General Motors has lifted the veil on its refreshed 2013 GMC Acadia at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Designers gave the big crossover a slight redo with a new front valance, headlight details and new interior materials. Up front, the 2013 Acadia boasts a new grille set into a more vertical nose (reminiscent of the Granite, anyone?), and buyers can now look forward to more attractive diffused LED ...

Filed under: Coupe, Hybrid, Performance, Jaguar Jaguar has a bit of a tricky history with supercars. The only previous example it actually built was the XJ220, which remains an impressive specimen even 20 years later, even though it never quite lived up to what the original concept car promised those who put down their deposits. Then in 2010 the British automaker unveiled the C-X75 and our hearts stopped. The show car packed an intriguing twin-...

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Porsche, Luxury The 2012 Porsche 911 has been soaking up its share of plaudits, now its ready to soak up its share of your bank account. The "longer, lower, wider, 100-pounds lighter, faster" 911 has finally reached dealerships in its two initial guises: 350-horsepower Carrera and 400-horsepower Carrera S. The entry model will need $82,100 of your hard earned cash, which is a $4,300 premium over the ...

Filed under: Budget, Europe, Hatchback, SEAT We knew at its unveiling in Frankfurt that the debut of the production version of the Volkswagen Up! was only the beginning, what with all the concept versions Volkswagen showcased over the years. But that was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. VW isn't the only brand in the group that will offer the little city car, and its sister marques are eager to follow suit. So after Volkswagen debuted th...

Filed under: Motorsports, Racing Hunger is palpable in Formula One racing. The teams at the front are hungry for wins, while the teams at the back are hungry to claw their way up the field. But Sauber is just starving. The Switzerland-based privateer team owned and operated by Peter Sauber has been struggling to find financial backing since BMW divested back in 2009. But somehow the team still manages to stay afloat, though to what end we have ...

Filed under: Car Buying, Chicago Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, Mazda Behold, the 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition. The Japanese automaker will officially unveil the limited-production Miata under the lights of the 2012 Chicago Auto Show later today, featuring new goodies like a contrasting black retractable hard top and 17-inch gunmetal wheels. This is the first time in the vehicle's history that the MX-5 Miata has been available wi...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Coupe, Hyundai Hyundai wants its Elantra to dominate the C segment, and that means in all body styles. The just-introduced five-door GT is set to battle the Ford Focus and Subaru Impreza hatchbacks, and this new Elantra Coupe clearly has the two-door Honda Civic in its sights. The four-door Elantra already wears pretty rakish sheetmetal that carries over nicely to the Coupe, which is actually half an inch longer ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Budget, Hatchback, Hyundai When you intend to go up against cars like the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Mazda3, it doesn't matter how softly or loudly you speak, your stick had better be impressive. Hyundai believes it has just the thing in the 2013 Elantra GT, which is the updated moniker for the Elantra Touring (and a throwback to five-door Elantras of yore). The GT is the U.S. version of the European i30, an...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, Ford Twenty years ago, Ford debuted the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra at the Chicago Auto Show and introduced the world to its high-performance skunkworks department, known as SVT or Special Vehicle Team. Today, Ford celebrates SVT's platinum anniversary the only way it knows how: with another Mustang variant. And as suspected, it comes in the form of a topless Shelby GT500. Just as a refreshe...

You've seen the pics. Now watch the rather strange video.

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Sedan, Acura, Luxury The 2013 Acura ILX is here, and it will be one of the new first-responders to address the perception of Acura's weakened health. It might just be our eyes, but the transition to Acura-spec wheels and paint job makes this look much more of-the-family than the concept shown in Detroit. However, the production lines remain true, minus some of the chrome showy bits from the concept. Motivation wi...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Crossover, Acura, Luxury More room, more power, more fuel efficiency and more advanced all-wheel drive are the four unique selling propositions for the 2013 Acura RDX. As with the 2013 ILX, the productionized version of Acura's people-hauler is very, very similar to the RDX Concept from Detroit with a new set of wheels and a new paint job. The 3.5-liter V6 throws 33 more horsepower into the mix versus the previou...

Filed under: Crossover, Mini, Long-Term Garage Literally two days after my last update about our long-term Mini Countryman, I found myself trudging through a snowstorm at 30 miles per hour on Interstate 94 along Michigan's west coast. I guess Mother Nature had heard my cries about not being able to test our Mini in the snow, and decided to reward me with super slippery roads and poor visibility for two and a half hours straight. Lovely. Mile af...

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Europe, Mercedes-Benz, Rumormill, Diesel, Luxury Mercedes-Benz has no interest in pursuing BMW down the diesel performance rabbit hole, according to Autocar. The publication spoke with Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz AMG, who said the company explored the idea of performance diesels in the past and found the concept too fraught with compromises to be worthwhi...

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler Chrysler's tagline is "Imported From Detroit," but when it came to shooting this year's Super Bowl commercial, most of the job got exported to other locales. According to The Weekly Standard, much of the footage in the Chrysler ad, starring and narrated by actor Clint Eastwood, was shot in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The only footage of Detroit used in the "Halftime in America" commercial wasn't shot...

Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, Volvo, Luxury There are luxury automakers, there are mainstream automakers, and then there are those in between. Volvo, we'd argue, is one of those marques that doesn't quite compete in the same market as, say, Mercedes-Benz or Lexus, but that looks as if it's about to change. The Swedish automaker has been toying for years with the idea of building a new flagship to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class...

Filed under: Etc., Plants/Manufacturing, Marketing/AdvertisingThis is awkward. According to The Detroit Free Press, the now famous Made In Detroit apparel may come from as far away as the Dominican Republic. While Bobby Moscow, LLC, the company behind the official Made In Detroit shirts, designs and screen prints the Ts and other garb in Detroit proper, the raw materials are sourced from elsewhere. The company uses between eight and 10 different ...

Filed under: Spy Photos, Hybrid, Sedan, Etc., Nissan, Design/Style Nissan is busily putting the 2013 Altima prototype through its paces ahead of the vehicle's debut later this year and spy photographers spotted the vehicle on public streets wearing a new vinyl wrap designed to obfuscate the model's lines. Even so, we can clearly see a few more details about the upcoming sedan. From the looks of things, the vehicle received more than a little in...

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Cadillac, Luxury When spending big dollars on a Super Bowl ad buy, companies would do themselves well to remember that the successful spots aren't just the ones being talked about the next day. The ads that more eyeballs actually saw while watching the game were also worth their weight in focus groups. For the second year in a row, General Motors is claiming that it aired the most watched ...

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Audi, Luxury News on the next-generation 2015 Audi R8 has been spilling forth for a bit now, but a report in Autocar has begun to put them into a single package. We knew that next R8 wouldn't offer a manual option, only a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and that the monocoque would be a lighter, aluminum and carbon affair. Audi has apparently pegged a target weight of under 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds), m...

Filed under: Sedan, Hyundai, Luxury, Long-Term Garage January was not a busy month for our long-term 2011 Hyundai Equus. It did ferry one of our editors between auto company cocktail hours and dinners during the week of the Detroit Auto Show, but for the latter half of the month it wasn't driven all that much. But that's good news, because our Equus spent quite a bit of time at LaFontaine Hyundai, in Dearborn, Michigan, receiving a long-awaited ...

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Volkswagen, Quick SpinsMild-Mannered Fun At 45 mpg The world doesn't need another automaker claiming to have cracked the code for a fun-to-drive hybrid. The concept hasn't worked particularly well in any application. Just ask Lexus. And Honda. Twice. Granted, we don't know how Volkswagen plans to pitch the 2013 Jetta Hybrid when it goes on sale this fall. We didn't get a two-hour long marketing presentation and ass...

Filed under: Etc. Classic cars have been getting all kinds of love and money lately. Classic wheels, not so much. HRE has introduced a new line called the Vintage Series that puts old rims in a new light. There are three in the range for now. The 454 "five-window" you'll recognize from old Lamborghini Countach posters, the 505 "thick five-spoke" reminscent of the Ferrari 288 GTO and F40, and the 501 "mesh lace" worn to terrific effect by racing...

Filed under: Hatchback, Mini Much as we love the Mini Clubman and its rear-hinged, passenger-side door, this would be an incredibly stupid idea. Functionality is one thing, but ruining the design of the fetching Mini Cooper hardtop would be a downright shame. Nevertheless, Autocar reports that a rear-hinged door could be in store for the next Mini. A recent set of spy shots showed a Cooper hardtop prototype with an unusually short driver door w...

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Etc., Europe, Technology, BMW, Diesel, Luxury According to a number of reports, BMW has given up on diesel power for the 3 Series in the United States. Why would BMW turn its back on the torquey and efficient 335d? The reason is supposedly two-fold. It's no secret the automaker is bringing an ActiveHybrid 3 Series to market in the fall of this year. Given America's insatiable, if not illogical, thirst for hybrids, rea...

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen If you were watching the news out of Wörthersee last year, you may recall the Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabriolet concept pictured above. The show car debuted at the annual Volkswagen fan-fest in Austria, alongside an even hotter Golf R Cabriolet and a whole mess of other machinery from the burgeoning German auto empire. But that was the last we heard of it ... until now. Repor...

Filed under: Motorsports, The List While we've already sent Jessi and Patrick to a professional driving school, there's no way their on-track training could prepare them for the the 24 Hours of LeMons. This relatively recent phenomenon of endurance racing with $500 beater cars has grown into a 20-race season for 2012 that, as the organizer's themselves put it, is "Inexplicably Presented by Car and Driver." It's legit racing with a laugh track, ...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Nissan Nissan will officially debut its 2013 370Z tomorrow at the Chicago Auto Show, and the changes fulfill the dictionary definition of "subtle." The new 19-inch wheels and Euro-tuned shocks on models with the Sport Package are the big news, but details like vertical LEDs, 18-inch wheels on the non-Sport Z, two new colors and a red reflector out back add just enough signals to make a differen...

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler Chrysler has found itself in a bit of tangle with the company's Super Bowl ad featuring Clint Eastwood. In it, Eastwood speaks to viewers about "Halftime in America," specifically referring to Chrysler's recovery while drawing parallels with Detroit's own resurrection. If Chrysler was hoping to put its weight behind a second term for President Obama, it chose an odd spoke...

Filed under: Sedan, Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Fisker, Electric, Luxury This isn't good. The Associated Press is reporting that Fisker Automotive has stopped production of the Fisker Karma and laid off 26 Delaware employees and 40 contractors in California. The carmaker is reportedly looking to conserve cash while attempting to renegotiate loans granted by the Department of Energy. Fisker originally signed ...

Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, GM President George W. Bush recently spoke to a gathering of auto dealers in Las Vegas, saying that while he believes in the free market under normal conditions, he doesn't regret the $700 billion bailout fund used to rescue General Motors and Chrysler from the brink of collapse. Bush was quoted as saying he'd do it again, and that he didn't want there to be a 21 percent unemployment rate. The former lead...

Filed under: Motorsports, Mini The road taken by Mini to the World Rally Championship has been anything but smooth. After contesting a handful of rallies last season, Mini and Prodrive (the outfit running the team on the manufacturer's behalf) was set to contest the full calendar this year. But then the team failed to register in time, and dumped the promising driver it had plucked from the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and things did not lo...

Filed under: Crossover, Tesla, Electric If you've been following the story of the soon-to-be-revealed Tesla Model X, you're likely aware that the all-electric crossover is said to be quicker than a Porsche 911, offer more interior space than an Audi Q7 and come with all-wheel drive (at least as an option). Also, if the teaser image is any indication, it should be pretty svelte. What you might not know is that the feature likely to garner the mo...

Filed under: Sedan, Buick, GM Buick launched its mid-size Regal sedan in late 2010 as a 2011 model, with the Turbo, high-performance GS and eAssist models following suit over the past year. Now, General Motors' tri-shield arm has announced a couple of powertrain updates that will go into effect for the 2013 model year, namely the discontinuation of the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter inline-four in the base Regal. For 2013, the Regal's standard e...

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Lotus, Racing What's in a name? That depends who you ask. For the folks at Lotus, a name matters a great deal. That's why it fought so hard to regain control of its brand from the team now known as Caterham, and why it is launching racing programs in top series around the world under that same name. For the F1 team that has most recently adopted it, however, the name is less relevant than the winning form to whi...

Filed under: Motorsports, Nissan Nissan doesn't compete in Formula One. It doesn't field a top-tier LMP1 team at Le Mans. It doesn't race in NASCAR, IndyCar or the World Rally Championship. Yet the Japanese automaker doesn't have to stretch all that far to make the association between its brand and racing. It does, after all, offer competition versions of its GT-R and 370Z for use in a number of sportscar racing series around the world. But wher...

Filed under: Etc. We're almost ready to record Episode #268 of the Autoblog Podcast. Check out the topics below and you can join us live via UStream, as well, and we've embedded our UStream player after the jump. Thanks for listening! Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #268 Superbowl Ads Fiat 500L previewed Honda loses Civic Hybrid lawsuit Driverless cars in 24 hrs of LeMons Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #268 go...

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Japan, Videos, Toyota There is likely no end to the amount of fun one can have with an empty parking lot, a few cones and a willing vehicle. Add two capable machines to the mix and the enjoyment increases exponentially. When those happen to be two Toyota GT86 coupes, all that's missing is the not-so judicious application of one's right foot. Two pro drift drivers recently got the chance to fling the ...

Filed under: Performance, Ford Today marks twenty years since Ford first announced its Special Vehicle Team, most famously known as SVT. With performance mastermind John Colleti at the helm, SVT produced some legendary cars during its first 10 years, beginning with the 1993 SVT Cobra (and its even more hardcore sibling the SVT Cobra R) as well as the 2003 F-150 SVT Lightning. Since then we've had numerous updates to each, most notably the the SV...

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Videos Here's a Super Bowl commercial that most of us probably missed, even those of you who stayed on the couch for all four quarters and didn't even get up during halftime. It's a fantastic car-chase commercial that features a first-generation Cadillac CTS-V and a pair of iconic Panther-platform Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. The ad is promoting high-speed Exo service for Canadian cable provider ...

Filed under: Motorsports, Geneva Motor Show, Etc., Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Earnings/Financials, Fiat We record Episode #268 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it ...

Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Hatchback, Skoda On this side of the Atlantic, one Volkswagen division's new product may not have a significant impact on those of another. That's because the German auto giant's brands are kept quite separate in North America. Less so, however, back in Europe, where a new VW is likely to reappear in due time as a Seat or Skoda. Case in point: the new Up! city car, which is also sold overseas as the Seat ...

Filed under: Classics, Performance, Etc., Videos, Celebrities Jay Leno has a special place in his heart for steam power. The comedian has a collection of vintage vehicles that have more in common with a classic train than a modern car, and of those, his 1906 Stanley Steamer seems to be one of his favorites. In 2007, the Stanley suffered a bit of a catastrophic failure, and Leno and his team of steam mechanics have been working to get the vehicl...

Filed under: Concept Cars, Motorcycle, UK, Design/Style We don't envy the designers who pen bikes for the likes of Triumph or Harley-Davidson. Machines like the Bonneville and Sportster are inherently popular for their nostalgic looks, and die-hard fans are the first to cry foul when the bikes wander too far from the original recipe. As the Triumph Bonneville Speed Twin Concept elegantly illustrates, that's a crying shame. As the brainchild of E...

Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Videos, Motorcycle If you've ever wondered what keeps small-business owners up at night, allow us to direct your attention to the video after the jump. From what we can gather, the driver in the black sedan got into a fender bender in a parking lot outside of a motorcycle speed shop. Worried about what the long-arm of the law would have to say about the collision, the driver then proceeded to attempt to make a speedy g...

Filed under: Sedan, Volkswagen, Diesel, Long-Term Garage Stellar fuel efficiency is still the name of the game when it comes to our long-term Volkswagen Jetta TDI, as it's averaging well over its EPA-estimated 30 city and 42 highway miles per gallon in our hands. In fact, with a deft throttle foot, it's not terribly difficult to crest the 50-mpg plateau on long, steady-state trips. The oil-burning steed recently made the trek from Southern Cali...

Filed under: Etc., Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Mini The naming of a storm seems innocuous enough. After all, when some sort of weather event - be it a hurricane, tropical storm, blizzard or flood - comes along, we as human beings are going to talk about it, and having a name makes that a much easier process. So, the marketing folk at Sassenbach, the ad agency used by Mini in its home country, probably thought it would be harmless and fun to ...

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Nissan Nissan is partnering with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) to create an all new Spec Z Series that promises low costs and performance parity. The single classification series will feature 350Z models from 2003 to 2008, and prizes that part-time track warriors can really get behind. At the regional level, podium finishers can earn up to $850 in prize money. Further, Nissan will pony up $6,500 in ...

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Racing It might have seemed like a joke when an energy drink company bought the first of two F1 teams in 2004, but eight years and two world titles later, the only ones laughing are those inside the team. For 2012, Red Bull Racing returns as the force to be reckoned with as it aims to make it three in a row, and this is the car in which it aims to get there. Red Bull hasn't released much in the way of details o...

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Concept Cars, Hatchback, Kia, Design/Style Kia has officially dropped new teaser for its Chicago-bound Track'Ster concept. Word has it the new hatch will be based largely on the company's Soul five-door, though with a few notable tweaks. For starters, designers scrapped the rear doors for more of a hot hatch look. A new front fascia looks to be part of the recipe as well, and odds are the Track'Ster will rock suit...

Filed under: Budget, Videos, Hatchback, Chevrolet Chevrolet alluded to it in its "Stunt Anthem" Super Bowl commercial for the Sonic, and during this weekend's Super Bowl, the genuine article appeared. As promised, the Sonic tests out its musical chops by playing OK Go's "Needing/Getting." Two miles of instruments were laid out in the Southern California desert, lots of practice and planning to get it just right. Of course, that was after four m...

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising Just like Super Bowl XLVI had to have a winner and a loser, so do the commercials. We've assembled every car commercial that aired during the big game after the jump, along with a poll allowing you to vote on your favorite. To help you decide, we've graded the ads based on the opinions of our own AOL Autos Editor-in-Chief David Kiley. Having been marketing editor at BusinessWeek, an Adweek and Advertising Age ...

Filed under: Videos, Chrysler The gritty Chrysler Super Bowl commercial starring Clint Eastwood may not have been as much of a shock - or as universally well-regarded - as last year's Eminem spot, but it's certainly going to have cube-dwellers trawling YouTube to catch another viewing. Problem is, Chrysler's YouTube channel ran into some problems this morning. Viewers attempting to watch the commercial instead got a message saying "This video is...

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Mazda Mazda's attractive and fun-to-drive 2013 CX-5 goes on sale this month, and the automaker's North American arm has just announced that it will be priced from $20,695 (*not including $795 for destination). That's a higher base price than competitors like the Hyundai Tuscon, Kia Sportage and Subaru Forester, but the CX-5 boasts some of the best driving dynamics in the segment, not to mention the best fuel e...

Filed under: Government/Legal Are you a U.S. automaker? Do you want a billion dollars? Have we got a deal for you! Just build 60,000 cars that get 100 miles per gallon and the government will send a truckload of cash to your office doors (or, perhaps, mail a check). H.R. 3872 - the Excellence in Energy Efficiency Act of 2012 - was just introduced by Representative Dan Lungren (R) of California's 3rd Congressional District. If passed, the legisl...

Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Work, Chevrolet, Police/Emergency, Australia The sun has long since set on the Ford Crown Victoria and the big sedan's Police Interceptor variants, but many parts of the country still haven't seen the next-generation of pursuit vehicles take to the street. In the case of the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle, that's because General Motors has hit a delay in providing the Holden-based sedans. According to the DuPon...

Filed under: Convertible, Mini, UK, Specialty We are more used to seeing this in the six-figure realm of the automotive world: a carmaker putting out one special edition after another. But both Mini and UK buyers love their specializations, so Mini has provided another one called the Highgate. It follows the Baker Street and Baywater editions as the new hotness for 2012. This one will be for the Cooper convertible (Baker Street and Bayswater we...

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Government/Legal, Safety, Maserati, Luxury Maserati has announced a recall of certain 2008-2010 Granturismo models over faulty tail lamps. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the coupes may have been assembled with a defective rear lamp assembly. The lights could then fail to illuminated, potentially causing an accident. NHTSA says Maserati will replace the units free of charge once t...

Filed under: Convertible, Europe, Hatchback, Audi Audi is going to great lengths to steal territory away from arch-rival BMW and its Mini marque. But as you'd expect from any German automaker, the initial A1 three-door premium hatchback appears to be just the beginning. Since its launch, the A1 has bred the five-door A1 Sportback, there's a Q1 crossover based on the same platform reportedly in the works, and the A1 Quattro demonstrates the exten...

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler How do you follow up a Super Bowl ad staring Eminem's music and one of 2011's most successful taglines? If you're Chrysler, you call in Clint Eastwood and revisit the city of Detroit's comeback story for a progress update. Appropriately titled "Halftime in America," Chrysler's Super Bowl ad made its impactful debut immediately following the game's halftime show. Starring American icon Clint Eastwood,...

Filed under: Motorsports Even though Aston Martin's gone home and Audi won't have Peugeot to kick around at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, there's a heap to look forward to: a large field of entries that includes two Audi diesel R18s plus two more hybrid R18s, Toyota's TS030 LMP1 hybrid and LMP2 racers from Lotus and Morgan. But it's the entire field that delivers the magic of Le Mans, and it's not like we need more reminders of the race's aw...

Filed under: Classics, Sedan, Volvo When you think of old-school Volvos - you know, those boxy designs that pre-date the more curvaceous models of today - what do you picture? The 240? The 850? Or do you think of the ultimate in squared-off Swedish design, the 760? The model credited with saving Volvo was introduced in February, 1982, making it 30 years old this month. Reflecting on the occasion, Volvo looks back at the 760's development, when ...

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet, Ford Chevrolet is having some pointed fun with its apocalyptic Super Bowl ad featuring the Silverado called "2012," only the fun is pointed directly at Ford, which finds it a little too sharp to be all that much fun. So on the eve of the big game, Ford sent Chevy a cease-and-desist letter to pull the ad and "pressured" NBC not to run the commercial, according to a report on ...

Filed under: Etc., Jaguar, UK Jaguar's headquarters and production were located at Browns Lane in Conventry for more than fifty years. Part of the complex included the Jaguar Heritage Museum and its collection of 150 cars, so when the Browns Lane site was sold in 2007 to an Australian developer, the countdown began on the museum's remaining time. Now comes the formal announcement that the collection will vacate its current spot in September, th...

Filed under: Classics, Etc., BMW, Design/Style Chris Bangle may be the name most recently associated with BMW design, but he's just one of many men and women who have sketched and sculpted automobiles for Bayerische Motoren Werke. BMW enthusiast website BMWism.com has gone all the way back to the beginning of the brand, when a BMW was a knockoff of an Austin 7. The names we all know show up in the chronology; giants of post-World War II automoti...

Filed under: Motorsports, Racing Force India has come a long way. What started out as Jordan Grand Prix and changed hands (and names) several times before landing in the stewardship of Indian bazillionaire Vijay Mallya has become a solid mid-field contender on race days. In 2011, the team finished sixth in the constructors' standings, behind front-runners Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus Renault GP. In 2012, however, Force India ai...

Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota, Racing When Toyota announced its return to endurance sports car racing with the new TS030 Hybrid this season, the plan was to enter a handful of races, like Le Mans and Spa-Francorchamps, on an invitational basis. Plans change, though, and Toyota has now upgraded the program to a full manufacturer entry, paving the way for it to compete in the entire FIA World Endurance Championship schedule. Now, with budget c...

Filed under: Renault, UK Renault has a wide array of products in its portfolio. In its home market it offers a baker's dozen model lines, and when you get down to bodystyles the range ratchets up past 20. While we don't get any of them in North America, the United Kingdom remains a vital market for the French automaker. But British buyers haven't been buying Renaults as much as they used to, prompting a drastic shift in strategy. As a result, R...

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Etc., Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Hyundai Hyundai has been targeted by Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy organization, over the automaker's 40 mpg fuel efficiency claim on the Hyundai Elantra. The group says Elantra owners have seen fuel economy averages of 18 and 19 mpg instead of the the 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway reported by Hyundai and the Environmental Protection Agency. As such, the grou...

Filed under: Car Buying, Auctions, Etc., Technology The eBay Motors smartphone application has a clever new feature. Users can now take a photo of any car they see on the street and the app will find similar listings for them automatically. Want to know how much that 2005 BMW M3 in the parking lot is going for right now? Just point and shoot. We tested the app ourselves and found it to be fairly accurate. It had no trouble honing in on a Toyota ...

Filed under: Motorsports, Minivan/Van, Europe, Renault, Racing A minivan is not what you'd expect to see winning a racing series. Nor would a budget brand like Dacia. That's where Alain Prost comes into the picture. The three-time Formula One world champion isn't quite retired: he's still competing in the Andros Trophy, a French ice-racing series. After hoisting the trophy twice in a row with a snow-spec Toyota Auris rally machine, Prost switch...

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Acura, Honda, Luxury Let's take a moment to praise the original Acura NSX, a previously unimaginable coupe from an equally unimaginable source that, as Lexus did with luxury, put every supercar maker on notice. Only the NSX went further than anything Lexus ever did; after all, there's no clamor today for Lexus to make another car in the spirit of the LS 400. Now, enthusiasts and NSX owners wait, hoping t...

Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Suzuki, Design/Style The Suzuki Regina concept shown at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show was an unusual little car. We don't want to get our hopes up about production (especially since we'd probably never get it in America anyway), but the Regina will return to the spotlight at the Geneva Motor Show with some tweaks that have us wondering if Suzuki plans to actually build the French-looking runabo...

Filed under: Videos, Humor The beige blurs in the still above are sheep, and they're apparently very excited about something in that little blue car. Supposedly, a farmer in the Caucasus was just trying to get through a lane, and this, dubbed the "sheep cyclone," is what developed. Follow the jump for the video. If you put on headphones and listen closely, you might be able to hear the car whispering "Baa Ram Ewe." Or whatever that would be in ...

Filed under: Sedan, China, BMW, Luxury In China, it's common for managers in various levels of the corporate hierarchy to have personal drivers, hence the proliferation of long-wheelbase sedan variants that we don't see in North America. Audi sells the A4L and A6L there, and now BMW is following up the 535Li it currently offers in China with a elongated version of the new 3 Series sedan. Likely dubbed the 335Li, the long-wheelbase 3 will be pro...

Filed under: Motorsports, Hybrid, Diesel, Racing The diesel era at Le Mans may not be over yet, but already we're seeing the emergence of a new propulsion trend: hybrids. Toyota recently announced the TS030 Hybrid LMP1, Peugeot was working on a hybrid version of its 908 prototype before it killed the race program, and now Audi has confirmed a hybrid version of the R18 TDI. Few details were released, but what we can tell you is that Audi will fi...