Autoblog

Do you sense a pattern here? Not only has the Nissan GT-R won just about every comparison test on the planet, but it's also racked up a Popular Science Best of What's New award, Car of the Year honors from Automobile Magazine, and now the GT-R can add Motor Trend's CotY trophy to its mantle, as well. Calling it simply "Ichiban", the MT team praised Nissan's supercar-for-the-people as a standout in a pretty deep pool of contenders. While practically none of its CotY competitors even comes close to matching the GT-R's performance, several that are almost as good in their own right made the finals. Good as they are, the Honda Fit, Hyundai Genesis, BMW 1 series, Jaguar XF, Acura TL and TSX, Audi A4, Mazda6 and Volkswagen Passat CC just couldn't match the dominance of Gozilla. It would have been more difficult for MT to justify picking something other than the GT-R for this honor, and we can't think of any reason to disagree with their choice. Full press release after the jump.


[Source: Motor Trend]

When the 2005 Ford Mustang debuted, it thoroughly reinvigorated the pony car segment that it created four decades earlier. After 25 years of being assembled on the archaic rear-wheel-drive Fox platform, the Mustang finally had an all-new platform and styling that hearkened back to the late 1960s. Known as the S197, this Mustang appeared at a time when it was in fact the only surviving member of the muscle car class. The Camaro and Firebird had been cancelled two years earlier and Chrysler had been out of the rear-wheel-drive sport coupe market since the 1970s. The Mustang's enormous success inspired Chevrolet and Dodge to create their own retro-styled muscle cars in the form of the new Camaro and Challenger. Fortunately for Mustang fans, Ford has not been sitting idle, and even while it was creating all those special edition Mustangs over the past few years, it was also working on thoroughly revamping its core pony. For the 2010 Mustang, Ford has taken the best parts of the S197 and fixed most of what was broken. Read on to learn what's new.

UPDATE: The cat's out of the bag, so click here for our full post on the 2010 Ford Mustang with analysis of the new pony car and lots of high-res images.



Everyone here at Autoblog has been patiently counting down the seconds until 12:01AM EST tonight when Ford's embargo lifts on the 2010 Mustang. At that time we can tell you all about the new 'Stang as well as share our official high-res images and live shots that we took when invited to see it behind closed doors last week. Well, thanks to Ford itself we don't have to wait that long to give you a full featured sneak peek. The Blue Oval has already updated its official micro-site for the 2010 Mustang with a few wallpaper images (see gallery below), a CG video and the pony car's official order form that gives up the entire goods on each model, their standard features and optional equipment. You can try out the car in different colors.

We're still going to wait until 12:01AM EST to release our mother load of Mustang content (at least for now), so come back at midnight to read all about the changes to America's favorite muscle car and view our high-res galleries. Thanks for the tip, Jason!

It's usually fun to speculate on what the future might hold, but this is one case where we're not so enthused. First of all, nobody in their right mind really wants to see GM fold (at least they shouldn't), regardless of the fact that it has been mismanaged for a good portion of its 100-year run. There have been some seriously cool machines that have rolled out of GM's various divisions, not the least of which is the iconic American sportscar, the Corvette. The 'Vette has succeeded where others have failed in providing a relatively inexpensive way for Americans to enjoy world class performance, and things have recently taken a turn for the better with the Z06 and ZR1 models. But, what would happen to the American classic if the General were to go bankrupt and couldn't recover? Would the Corvette cease to exist?

This exact question is currently being contemplated by forum members at GM Inside News. One inexplicable suggestion is that Toyota would be the best automaker to take the reigns of the Corvette brand -- a theory that's been met with a fair amount of skepticism. After taking just one look at the latest 'Vette wearing a Toyota badge, we nearly shed a tear. The comments are open -- let the debate rage.

[Source GM Inside News]

Hey, if you missed the For Yor Eyes Only Lotus Esprit sale a couple of years ago, your shot to own another Bond-driven Lotus is on the horizon. In December, Bonhams will auction one of the two 1976 Lotus Esprit S1s used in The Spy Who Loved Me. The film is well known for the car/motorcycle/helicopter chase that culminates with the Lotus flying into the drink and turning into a submarine (one of those famous prop cars sold last year); and the Stromberg hench-babe giving chase in a JetRanger turning into a charcoal briquette.

A look at the photos Bonhams includes with its listing make it pretty clear that the interior used in the chase sequence's dialogue scenes between Roger Moore and Barbara Bach did not match the one in the actual car being auctioned. The proud new owner of this one will surely revel in the splendor of its green-and-red plaid motif! Bonham's expects this Esprit to fetch more than £80,000 -- a healthy premium over what less famous S1s go for on the open market.. Still, we'd fork it over in about two seconds if we had that kind of walking around money. For some of us, this car was our first exposure to the Esprit, and it looks as good as ever. (Even better with Barbara Bach riding shotgun...)

Follow the jump to relive The Spy Who Loved Me's chase sequence.


[Sources: BBC, Bonham's]

Rhys Millen Racing's Hyundai Genesis Coupe enjoyed some time in the spotlight at SEMA, but it's hard to see the potential of the new coupe sitting stationary on the show stand. So RMR brought out the Genesis Coupe to take up space in their pit during the Red Bull Drifting World Championship and the crew at Streetfire.net captured some video of the Genesis running around, posing or pics. In the clip, the pilot of the coupe never put his boot down, but it still sounded mean with a deep gurgle and the Turbonetics turbocharger whirring at low rpms. In person, the build also came across as very well constructed with a lot of attention to detail. Regardless of the advertised build time, it was carefully pieced together by a knowledgeable bunch.

Be sure and check out the galleries below for the whole collection of RMR Genesis Coupe images and hit the jump to check out the video.

As a rain of ash fell on most of Southern California the crew from Inside Line set out to introduce enthusiasts to Nissan's new sports coupe, the 2009 Nissan 370Z. The gathering took place at the advertising offices of Chiat/Day, which supplied a striking background for the next generation Z model. First impressions of the 370Z in person were no different than those formed after viewing the initial images. The design intentions, to blend between the outgoing 350Z and stylings pulled from the Z cars of yesteryear, was especially apparent. However, it was certainly strengthened when the new model was parked in close proximity to examples of both the Z33 and its forebears vehicles. Getting a real life view of the new Z was nice, but a vehicle is best defined by the ease of human/machine interaction. The 370Z meet and greet offered the first opportunity to poke around in the coupe. Unfortunately, this blogger did not get a chance to peek inside the vehicle before the Inside Line crew put her on the spot for an opinion. The end result of the interrogation can now be seen on Inside Line's preview video.

After breaking away from the Inside Line crew I eventually secured a spot behind the steering wheel of the Z34. I was most curious about the side view offered by the larger rear fender and C-pillar combination, and as I suspected, the view was non-existent. The rear hatch also angled more sharply than the 350Z, which combined with the 370Z's smaller physical dimensions, meant less space for piling up junk in the trunk. The trunk held other surprise: an on-off switch for a rear differential cooler pump was hiding underneath the mat. The cooler addition is a typical Japanese trick for protecting sporty vehicles from abusive drivers, also known as members of the press. A shiny anodized fitting for an oil cooler was also spotted in the Z's front fender well. The extra hardware prompted rumors and questions about NISMO upgrades, but currently there are no answers on that front. One question that did receive attention was aimed at hashing out more details on the downshift rev-match option. According to those on hand, it will be a feature available on sport models and will operate through feedback on clutch engagement, brake pedal position, rpm, throttle position and gear selection.

Check the galleries below for everything we've amassed in the lead-up to the new 2009 Nissan 370Z's introduction, which should tied you over until the official unveiling at next week's LA Auto Show.



[Source: Inside Line]

Back in July we told you that Fisker had tabbed Valmet Automotive to build its upcoming Karma. Now we get word that all of the contracts have been finalized and production looks certain. Valmet will be doing all of the engineering and manufacturing for the Karma, that sexy new four-door plug-in hybrid sports sedan designed by ex-Aston Martin designer, Henrik Fisker. Production should start about a year from now, in late 2009. The first cars should show up Stateside, with European deliveries following soon after, in early 2010. The companies are planning an annual production of about 15,000 cars worldwide.

The $80k sedan uses lithium ion batteries, and owners should expect about 50 miles of driving before the gas engine ever kicks in. Range should rival the Chevy Volt at 350 miles per charge. Unlike the Volt, however, the Karma will have a top speed of 125 mph, and a 0-60 time of about 5.8 seconds. Even with the price of gas plummeting, we think Fisker should have little trouble selling 15,000 of these beauties a year, even at $80k. Full press release after the jump.


[Source: Valmet Automotive]

At the Dubai Autodrome this week, Aston Martin revealed the car that will replace the Vantage N24, which has raced successfully in the FIA GT4 class and endurance events like the 24 Hours of Nürburgring for the past two years. Named the Vantage GT4, the new racer will employ a racing version of the production car's 4.7L V8 in place of the N24's slightly smaller 4.3L V8. Other race-bred modifications include a free-flow exhaust system, dry sump lubrication and new engine management software calibrated for racing. The new GT4 is hand-built by Aston Martin and can be ordered by race teams from the factory with a six-speed manual transmission or Sportshift tranny with paddle shifters. The production car's interior gets gutted and replaced with a molding of the dash that's covered in Alcantara suede (which also covers the steering wheel), a steel roll cage and Recaro competition seats. The suspension has been beefed up for race duty and the wheels are now cast magnesium wrapped in Yokohama race rubber, but Aston has carried over all of the production car's active safety systems like stability control, traction control and ABS. If you're a gentleman racer, you can order the new Vantage GT4 from the factory for £96,645 and have it ready to race by this January.


[Source: Aston Martin Racing]

American Motors may have lost its way towards the end of its life in the '80s, but the little car company that could created some very cool vintage American iron. When the muscle car era was still in full swing, AMC was a player with its Javelin, which went up against some stiff competition in the form of the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Trans Am. Later, the Mopar boys introduced the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda into the mix, muddying the waters that much more. Though AMC had some success with its pony car, the AMX was quite possibly AMC's coolest production vehicle. Based on a shortened version of the Javelin's platform, the AMX had just two seats and was all about performance. The car turned into something of an icon for the automaker, and the name was subsequently used for a series of concepts throughout the '70s... right up until American Motors died.

AMC devotees have speculated on a possible return of the AMX, and though it seems extremely unlikely, we have no problem indulging in the fantasy. So-Cal AMC Club members commissioned Jeff Teague, a designer who just so happens to be the son of classic AMC designer Dick Teague, to come up with his ideas of Javelin and AMX revivals... and what AMC discussion would be complete without a mention of the Gremlin. See all of the renderings in our gallery below.


[Source: Hemmings Auto Blogs]