Autoblog

Looks like there won't be much of a fiesta for Ford this year, as the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia has captured the 2009 European Car of the Year award by just one point over the hot little hatch with the big blue oval on its snout. Scoring 321 points to the Fiesta's 320, the Insignia claimed the victory with the bronze going to the Volkswagen Golf (223 points). It's the first win for Opel in 22 years, although the European branch of GM has scored four runner-up spots in the past. You might even say this is payback for Ford, which snatched the top prize from Opel in 2007 when the Ford S-Max nipped the Corsa by two points in the balloting. According to the jurors, the Insignia won this year based on its "artistry with German precision" good looks, active and passive safety features, comfort and a wide array of efficient engines including that 280-hp turbo V6. Options such as the Opel Eye that reads road signals, FlexRide suspension and nine-mode Adaptive Forward Lighting were also cited. Hopefully this car will eventually show up Stateside as the next Saturn Aura. Thanks for the tip, everyone!


[Source: Car of the Year]

Now that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has an agreement with General Motors regarding how to measure the fuel mileage of the 2011 Chevy Volt, our attention turns to the EPA, which now has to decide what official mileage rating will appear on the new car's window sticker and how to determine what that number will be. The first recommendation comes from the Automotive X-Prize, the foundation of which will award $10 million from Progressive Insurance to the winner of its competition to design a production-viable car that people would want to drive that gets 100 MPGe or more.

What's with that little 'e' after the familiar miles per gallon? Basically, the X-Prize crew wants to convert all units of energy to a figure that's equivalent to the power from a gallon of gas. That way, a car's powerplant – regardless of where it gets that energy from – earns a rating that can be easily compared with everything else. So, EPA, the ball's in your court... still.

Psst - GM, maybe you should enter the Volt in the X-Prize competition. Just a thought.


[Source: Automotive X-Prize via AutoblogGreen]

Click above for more high resolution photos of the Mustang Bullitt

If you want to be the next critically acclaimed filmmaker, the Ford Mustang may be your ticket to an audience of millions. Ford and Filmaka.com are teaming up on a contest to see who can create the best Mustang-themed script. Would-be filmmakers can choose from one of eight Mustang stories or pick a tale of their own, then write a script about it. The people with the top 20 scripts as chosen by Ford and Filmaka.com will get a budget of $5,000 to produce their film, along with contacts at local Mustang clubs for the use of vehicles to shoot. Those 20 winners will have two weeks to submit their finished work, and nine winners and an alternate will receive an additional $5,000 in prize money. The top 10 will also get the chance to create a promo that will appear on network TV. The grand prize winner gets the opportunity to direct a film for promotional materials for the 2010 Mustang.

That's a pretty cool contest for aspiring filmmakers everywhere, but there isn't much time at all to get in on the fun. The contest ends on August 26 (today!), and the top 20 winners will need to have their initial work completed by September 16.


[Source: Ford]

Scion owners recently submitted pics of their personalized vehicles, including tC, xA, xB, and xD models, to the company for evaluation. The loyal owners were participating in Scion's "United by Individuality" brand campaign, designed to put individuals' modified vehicles in magazines, on billboards, even projected onto movie screens. More than 300 cars made the cut, and they soon found themselves in the Nevada desert for a photo shoot that included racing, tuning events, and even music performances. Shown above is a stunning aerial shot of more than 200 cars parked – very well we might add – at the event. The ad campaign launches in movie theaters July 21, while the other media won't go live until August 4th.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

Click above to watch Ryan's call to action

Ryan Mickle, seen above and apparently afraid of no ghosts, has had a change of heart since purchasing his Range Rover Sport new in 2006. Since then, gas prices have shot through the roof and fighting climate change has become a favorite global pastime. Seeing that his SUV gets about 13 mpg, Ryan doesn't want to drive it, doesn't want to sell it and doesn't want anyone else to get behind the wheel -- ever. Trouble is, he's not quite sure how to go about it just yet. So, he wants you to help him decide the fate of his SUV. A few initial ideas: catapult it into the Pacific Ocean, blow it up or convert it to a run on either electrons or biodiesel.

We're hoping that common sense wins out here and the vehicle is somehow saved from such an inauspicious fate as being merely blown to shreds -- after all, that's not very eco-friendly either. While a biodiesel conversion might be fun, we'll put our official vote on the EV idea. Yank the engine, drop in a nice electric motor and some decent batteries in the rear cargo area... presto-chango, problem solved. Well, maybe it's a bit more complicated than that. Watch Ryan's video after the break. Thanks for the tip, everyone!

[Source: One Fewer]

Spend a couple of minutes surfing the net and you'll find all sorts of contests giving away all sorts of prizes. The best of them – ahem, like the Autoblog Relaunch Celebration Sweepstakes we ran a year back – give away a new car. But how about an old car? We mean, like a classic... a classic among classics, even, like the 1957 Ford Thunderbird.

That's exactly what Blaster chemicals – makers of a variety of lubricants and rust inhibitors – is giving away to mark its 50th anniversary. Residents of the lower 48 can enter the sweepstakes online until the end of July. The grand prize consists of the T-Bird and a trip for two to Cleveland – home of Rock & Roll and our own John Neff – to pick it up at the awards ceremony. They're also giving away five classic pedal cars, five leather jackets and Blaster-branded apparel. Follow the jump to enter.

[Source: Blaster Corporation via All Cars, All the Time]

Our week long string of sweepstakes to celebrate Father's Day has concluded with DJohnson being randomly chosen as the winner of our final sweepstake's prize, a TomTom ONE 3rd Edition GPS navigation system. All of the winners have been contacted and we'll be sending the prizes out next week. Thanks to everyone who entered, and also thanks to Wholesalekeychains.com, Doubleday, Automoblox, Sony Computer Entertainment and TomTom for supplying the prizes. We love doing sweepstakes and plan on doing more in the future as we come across cool prizes.

We've reached the end of our week-long marathon of Father's Day sweepstakes, and we think you'll agree, we've saved the best for last. Our final sweepstakes is for a TomTom ONE 3rd Edition portable navigation system. Valued at $199, the ONE 3rd Edition is TomTom's entry-level model but features a large 3.5-inch touchscreen, preloaded maps and 1GB of internal memory (Father's Day tie not included). You can check out full specs for the ONE 3rd Edition on TomTom's website by clicking here. And all you need to do to enter is...

• Leave a comment on this post telling us what you got or gave someone for Father's Day this year.
• The comment must be left before 12:00 PM EST, Saturday, June 21st.
• We'll randomly select one winner at that time (please check your email!).
• Prize courtesy of TomTom valued at $199.
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (comment more than once on this post and you'll be disqualified, but enter again for tomorrow's sweepstakes)
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Congrats to GeoSB8K who won a copy of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and a DualShock 3 controller for the Playstation 3 in yesterday's sweepstakes.

I had preordered Gran Turismo 5 and a new Dualshock 3 controller for myself before they were available, but Sony sent us a copy of the game and a controller to try out before my own stuff arrived (Our review of the game is pending as we're still working on getting as far into the game as possible). What we're giving away today is technically courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment America, but in reality this unopened copy of GT5 Prologue and Dualshock 3 controller are really my birthday presents that arrived a bit too late, so happy birthday (and Father's Day) to you instead. They are today's prizes for our Father's Day Sweepstakes, Day 4, and one lucky winner will get both. Unfortunately a Sony Playstation 3 is not part of the prize package, but what better reason is there for getting one than winning this sweepstakes?

All you need to do to enter is...

• Leave a comment on this post telling us which car in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is your favorite.
• The comment must be left before 12:00 PM EST, Friday, June 20th.
• We'll randomly select one winner at that time (please check your email!).
• Prizes courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment America valued at $39.99 (game) and $54.99 (controller).
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (comment more than once on this post and you'll be disqualified, but enter again for tomorrow's sweepstakes)
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Congrats to judd who won an Automoblox C9R and S9R in yesterday's sweepstakes. Come back tomorrow for our Father Day Sweepstakes, Day 4 as the prizes get bigger and better.

What's a sweepstakes on Autoblog without some Automoblox cars as prizes? Not much, so we rang Patrick Calello, the designer who dreams up these heirloom-quality toys, and he's graciously provided both a C9R sportscar ($39.99) and S9R sports sedan ($39.99) for us to give away. Unlike the last two days, both prizes will be going to one winner to help them start their collection of Automoblox cars. I have six myself, and the out-of-the-box C9R you see above is mine. The prizes for this sweepstakes, however, are still in their original boxes and unopened. We're also including an Automoblox T-shirt and decals courtesy of Patrick Calello with the prize.

All you need to do to enter is...

• Leave a comment on this post telling us which Automoblox car is your favorite.
• The comment must be left before 12:00 PM EST, Thursday, June 19th.
• We'll randomly select one winner at that time (please check your email!).
• Prizes courtesy of Automoblox valued at $39.99 apiece.
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (comment more than once on this post and you'll be disqualified, but enter again for tomorrow's sweepstakes)
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Congrats to Nick Dasko, Gunbust3r, Chris D., Wes, Brendan, HERRICK, Matt, sendmecrapola, 2fic, bencox88, BrokenMonkey and QuayRyanCheck who each won a copy of Devil May Care from yesterday's sweepstakes. Come back tomorrow for our Father Day Sweepstakes, Day 4 as the prizes get bigger and better.