As much as Jeremy Clarkson complains about fat, uncool Americans and their crudely-made, overweight cars, General Motors managed to come out on top in two categories in Top Gear's annual awards.
If you said the Corvette ZR1 was a winner, you'd be totally correct. The 638-hp supercar was a shoo-in to win over the Top Gear team, just as we guessed when they were caught driving at at the Bonneville Salt Flats earlier this year. Chevrolet's baddest Vette ever sped off with top honors in Top Gear's Performance Car of the Year category.
The second award winner won't be quite as easy to guess, mostly because it's not sold in the U.S. Top Gear's Executive Car of the Year is the Vauxhall Insignia which is based on GM's Epsilon II platform. The magazine likes the car's looks and technology. We won't bother predicting whether we'll see it here eventually. For that to happen, Saturn will need to be around, and right now, we'll have to wait and see what happens on that front.
At the Thailand Motor Expo this week, Ford's rolling out a show truck based on the locally-produced Ford Ranger. Dubbed the Ranger Max, it's a styling exercise designed to infuse the compact pickup with some visual muscle and toughness. According to Ford, power tools were among the inspirations for the project, hence the blend of matte accents and this OSHA-friendly orange paint job. Anyway, it's pretty cool, what with the embossed "RANGER" logos on the grille and tailgate; vented, domed hood; chunky wheel/tire package; flared fenders and integrated step rails. If Ford were to (finally) replace the U.S.-market Ranger with something incorporating the main cues from this (especially the overall grille/front-end treatment), you wouldn't hear a peep of complaint from us -- we'd be too busy listening to "One Night in Bangkok" on the stereo while we cruised down that street from the Ford Flex ads.
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Remember how excited we got when rumors started flying about the short-list of candidates to host NBC's version of Top Gear? Well, the BBC's original version isn't about to change any time soon, but another motor-related program is coming to the Beeb, and racing fans over on the British Isles have been getting all hot and bothered as the BBC has won the contract to broadcast Formula One grands prix. And it's sure to be a star-studded cast.
For starters, David Coulthard won't be staying in retirement long. After having ended his long racing career at the end of this past season, Coulthard will be joining the BBC coverage team. He'll be joined by former team owner Eddie Jordan, alongside sports anchor Jake Humphrey. BBC's radio coverage of the races will be handled by former driver and longtime commentator Martin Brundle along with Jonathan Legard, while Ted Kravitz and Lee McKenzie report from the pitlanes. Veteran commentator Murray Walker will stay on through the BBC Sport website, leaving the actual coverage to the new crop of talent. Hopefully we'll be able to understand half of what they're all saying.
Ursäkta! It's how you say "Excuse me!" in Swedish, though you might not be hearing it much anymore as Volvo has managed to get Oeko-Tex certification for all of its interior fabrics including the roof lining, floor mats, luggage compartment mats, upholstery, door panels, leather-trimmed steering wheels and seat belts. This means the entire Volvo line-up is now completely allergy friendly and won't make any of your friends break out in hives.
Seriously, this is why we love Volvo, which had embarked on a quest to reduce harmful pollutants from the inside of its cars a few years back. That "new car smell" so many covet is actually rather toxic and made up of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs. Those are pretty nasty things, and the Swedish automaker has been working to eliminate them, and its new certified textiles only serve to improve the people-friendliness quotient of these stylish Swedish automobiles. And if it means a few extra sales to longtime allergy sufferers? Icing on the cake, as long as you're not allergic to icing or something.
More spy shots of Saab's upcoming XC70-challenging 9-3X have just surfaced from Sweden. This offroadier 9-3 wagon SportCombi derivative has a raised suspension, "skid-plates" and extra cladding, plus jumbo exhaust tips to give it a more butch look. Looks like the Outback craze continues unabated. As we've told you before, the 9-3X will differ a bit from other 9-3s in its focus. Saab's Haldex drivetrain has shown itself to be a hoot to drive, which we noted when we sampled the Turbo X. Unlike the performance-oriented Turbo X, however, the 9-3X will use its Haldex AWD system for tackling trenches rather than twisties, offering its owners the security to tackle snow, potholes and black ice. It looks like it's going to be a busy 2009 for Saab, with the pending 9-4X, tweaks to the 9-5 and now the 9-3X.
This little gem in Muscat, Oman represents what you do when you have bodacious sums of money and time. Now we're all for having a little fun, but we're talking about an Enzo, which, while not the prettiest of Ferraris, still doesn't deserve to endure the eighth-level of Maaco paint-shop Hell. Whoever did this gets points for authenticity, even including the roof signage. If nothing else, we'd certainly go for a ride: as passenger to get anywhere in seven seconds, as driver, so we could say, imitating the voice of Blofeld, "That'll be one hundred million dollars."
The future is looking bleak for the North American International Auto Show, with automakers dropping out like hippies. Nissan and Infiniti were just two among the hoards of car manufacturers – including Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover and Ferrari as well as Porsche – that have recently announced their withdrawal from the Detroit show. But that's not stopping the show coordinators from continuing their campaign to have Motown's convention center updated as they see the show making a comeback within a few years.
According to show chairman Joe Serra, the downturn in participation for this year's show is just a reflection of the current economic climate. "It would be foolish for us to think this is how the future is going to look." Foolish or not, we can't imagine the Detroit 3 using much of their Congressional bailout cash on convention center renovations while they're trying to stay on their feet and in the black.
After taking a ride in the Pontiac G8 GXP and reading Jonathan's review, our adoration of the Aussie-bred sports sedan continues unabated. Nearly everyone we've talked to about the GXP says the same thing: "budget E39 M5." While the clichéd poor-man's Bimmer trope always causes our eyes to roll back into their sockets, this may be one of the few exceptions. According to Jalop's new reporter, Der Auto Inshiderfahvenberger, the GXP ran around the 'Ring in 8:30 -- a mere two seconds off the E39 M5's time.
The run was supposedly set by one of the GXP's development engineers – not a professional driver – but as always, we're wary of any development mule setting "unofficial" lap times, particularly when a roll cage is fitted, aiding in chassis rigidity. Regardless, it's hard to argue with a four-door sedan coming in under $40-large and delivering this level of performance.
Where do supercars go when they die? Some sacrilegious blend between Heaven and Hell where they get chopped up into little bits, but are then given a chance to give other supercars a new lease on life. One such Nissan GT-R met its demise far too young in its life. With only 4,000km on the odometer, some fool t-boned it and it was a goner. In came Australian motorsport outfit Just Jap Racing, who took the wrecked GT-R and cut it down to use as for spare parts for their racing program.
Not quite the first GT-R roadster as some would believe, but something far more important: Proof that, for Japanese sportscars at least, there is life after death.
Hello Kitty, we've been expecting you. According to Auto Express, what you see here is slated to hit showrooms in 2010 and will go up against such luxury and performance stalwarts as the Mercedes-Benz C Class Coupe, BMW's 3 Series Coupe and the Audi A5. It's definitely got the looks to compete on equal footing, with the trendy high belt-line and minimal glass surface area. Where the XF sedan features slinky lines, this XF bulges in an exaggerated show of power, making the new Coupe a much more aggressive design overall.
Jaguar's latest leaper is also expected to showcase the automaker's newest V8 engine, now displacing 5.0L and generating 500 supercharged horses. This engine will also make an appearance in the XFR and allow Jaguar to offer a British alternative to the BMW M cars, MB AMGs and Audi Rs, not to mention the latest Cadillac CTS V-Series, which is soon to lose two of its doors, as well. We don't know when and where this car will debut, but UK pricing is expected to be about £35,000 (about $53K in US dollars).
