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Fortune joined this weekend’s parade of all things USA with its list of “100 great things about America.” Be forewarned: the list itself is exceedingly dopey. After all, Clif bars, 60 Minutes, GEICO commercials, and LeBron James are among the things that Fortune somehow manages to rank ahead of the men and women collectively serving in our armed forces. (They’re number 64, for whatever that’s worth. Fortune separates out the SEALs, ranking them #5.)

Thanks to our nation’s obsession with them, cars and car-related items dot the list as well. A few even crack Fortune’s top 25: Detroit (#14), the Ford F-150 (#11) and interstate highways (#2). NASCAR sits at #51, drive-in movie theaters (the remaining few) occupy the 87th spot, Kevin Spacey’s Honda commercial voice-overs rank 41st (not making any of this up) and Exxon Mobil comes in at #88.

To read the whole facepalm-inducing list, head over to Fortune, where you’ll also learn that duct tape (#16) ranks ahead of the Bill of Rights (#17).

Detroit, F-150 and interstates among Fortune’s “100 great things about America”

Fortune joined this weekend’s parade of all things USA with its list of “100 great things about America.” Be forewarned: the list itself is exceedingly dopey. After all, Clif bars, 60 Minutes, GEICO commercials, and LeBron James are among the things that Fortune somehow manages to rank ahead of the men and women collectively serving in our armed forces. (They’re number 64, for whatever that’s worth. Fortune separates out the SEALs, ranking them #5.)

Thanks to our nation’s obsession with them, cars and car-related items dot the list as well. A few even crack Fortune’s top 25: Detroit (#14), the Ford F-150 (#11) and interstate highways (#2). NASCAR sits at #51, drive-in movie theaters (the remaining few) occupy the 87th spot, Kevin Spacey’s Honda commercial voice-overs rank 41st (not making any of this up) and Exxon Mobil comes in at #88.

To read the whole facepalm-inducing list, head over to Fortune, where you’ll also learn that duct tape (#16) ranks ahead of the Bill of Rights (#17).

Detroit, F-150 and interstates among Fortune’s “100 great things about America”

Japanese Brands Still Struggling, U.S. Brands Still Growing

U.S. auto sales last month were again marked by Japan’s two largest automakers, Toyota and Honda, struggling to increase production levels following the country’s debilitating earthquake and tsunami back in March. Sales for both automakers and their premium brands, Lexus and Acura, remain down sharply compared to June 2010, with all four brands plus Nissan’s luxury arm, Infiniti, reporting the five worst sales figures in the U.S. last month. Nissan, however, bucked the trend with a 16.7% rise in sales.

America’s Big 3 automakers, meanwhile, continued to post impressive sales gains while gobbling up market share from their Asian competitors. The Chrysler Group improved the most, with sales of its four brands (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) increasing over 30% to 120,394 units in June – enough to move the Auburn Hills-based automaker past Toyota Motor Company for the month. Don’t expect Chrysler to keep that ranking for long, however, as Toyota and Honda are well on their way to restoring production to pre-earthquake levels.

Other foreign makes, particularly Kia (41.18%) and Volkswagen (35.12%), posted aggressively positive sales number in June. Even smaller niche brands like Saab (49.54%) and Volvo (42.14%) have something to celebrate, though not as much as Mitsubishi, which posted the month’s largest sales gain of 97.69%.

Here are some more interesting sales numbers on individual models for June 2011:

• Volkswagen Jetta sales up 88.3% over last year to an all-time record 17,105 units
• Mustang beat Camaro: 8,835 to 8,486
• Ford Explorer sales up 106.6% YTD
• Kia Optima sales up 573% YTD
• Chevrolet Cruze (24,896), Ford Focus (21,385), Hyundai Elantra (19,992), Toyota Corolla (18,872), Honda Civic (17,485)

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 26 selling days in June 2011 versus 25 selling days in May 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.

By the Numbers – June 2010: Summer Daze Edition

Ford of Australia’s performance arm, Ford Performance Vehicles, always unveils machines that cause our drool to drip all the way down to the Outback – and we’re not talking gimmicky steakhouses here. A new FPV showcar has just been revealed for the Australian International Auto Show in Melbourne, and we’re already stuffing our mouth with gauze. It’s called the FPV Concept, and it’s based on the Ford Falcon GT sedan.

Looking decisively evil in its blacked-out color scheme, the FPV Concept is powered by a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine. Large 19-inch wheels help sort the handling and power, with eight-inch-wide rollers up front and 9.5-inch-wide wheels in the rear. The suspension is track-tuned and in our dreams, the exhaust system has been tuned by Hades himself.

Sadly, this FPV Concept is just another vehicle in a long line of Australian muscle machines Americans will never get to buy. Learn more about this particular one by reading the full press release posted after the jump.

Continue reading FPV shows off sinister GT-based concept with supercharged 5.0

FPV shows off sinister GT-based concept with supercharged 5.0

You can forget baseball – it seems like Americans have a new favorite pastime on their hands. No, we’re not talking about saddling up to the feeding trough at the local Golden Sizzlin’. Now more than ever, we love to argue. As a country, we’ll leap into a debate half-cocked, half-informed and fully armed faster than you can say, “You’re fired!”

In that grand tradition, the editors at Autoblog have dug in on which of our country’s convertible muscle cars are the most American – the 2011 Ford Mustang GT Convertible or the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible. Motoring out across the Lady Liberty’s wide open spaces in a topless muscle car is more patriotic than all the flag pins in Congress. They give our homecoming queens a perch from which to wave and make drive-in movies all the more magical.

In a twist of test fleet fate, two of us have been granted the keys to these beasts for the most American of holidays, Independence Day. Editor/Test Fleet Manager Steven J. Ewing has taken up the FoMoCo banner, leaving Associate Editor Zach Bowman to lead the Bowtie charge. Who will stand victorious?

Since it’s the Fourth of July weekend and this is America, we’ll leave that for the people to decide. Click past the jump to read the respective arguments for both cars and cast your vote.

Continue reading Partisan Pony Cars: 2011 Ford Mustang GT Convertible vs. 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible [w/poll]

Partisan Pony Cars: 2011 Ford Mustang GT Convertible vs. 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible [w/poll]

The ambition in the Hethel offices of Lotus appears to know no bounds, its road car program rivaled only by its expanding racing operations.

The British automaker already participates, in one manner or another, in Formula 1, IndyCar, GP3 and GT racing. The company is also said to be working on a new LMP2 program to challenge for the second-tier Le Mans category. But before that comes around, reports indicate that Lotus is working on an in-house rally project.

Rather than compete in the top-tier WRC or IRC classes, reports suggest that a production-based Exige is in the works for privateer entries, presumably for tarmac rallies, set to debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Despite the fact that the Exige has gone out of production, it remains a popular choice among privateers who have Lotus road cars converted to rally specifications by independent outfitters, a slice of whose pie Lotus apparently is keen to take.

The growing motorsport division at Lotus is headed by one Claudio Berro, who followed CEO Dany Behar over from Ferrari, where he was once the F1 team’s manager. And, like his former boss Jean Todt, Berro comes from a background as a rally co-pilot, navigating a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus through the Group 2 Italian Rally Championship in the early ’80s.

Lotus planning Exige-based rally car for Frankfurt

Few companies do crossovers quite like Nissan. Even after setting aside actual SUVs like the Xterra, Pathfinder and Armada, Infiniti’s offerings QX, EX and FX, and the crossovers its developed for its sister company Renault like the new Koleos, the Japanese automaker produces its own crossovers by, well… the truckload. Here we’ve got the Rogue, the Juke, and the Murano, joined overseas by such models as the Patrol/Safari, the X-Trail, and this, the Qashqai.

You may not be familiar with this particular CUV (pronounced “KASH-ky”) because it’s not sold in North America, but it’s closest in size and mission to our Rogue. Available in standard five-seat and long-wheelbase seven-seat configurations, the Qashqai was launched in 2007 and facelifted in 2010. It’s offered with a range of four-cylinder engines, driving either the front wheels or all four through CVT or manual transmissions, and takes on the likes of the Kia Sportage and Mitsubishi Outlander. It’s also popular in the Japanese and Australian markets, where it’s known as the Dualis.

In addition to production in Japan and Iran (whose nomadic tribe Turkic Qashqai gives it its name), the crossover is built primarily in the UK at Sunderland, where the vehicle’s production has just passed the million-made mark, standing as one of the most prolific automobiles ever made there. In fact, no other vehicle has reached that number in such a short time in Britain’s considerable automaking history.

According to Nissan, over the course of the four-and-a-half years of production, Qashqai production at Synderland has accounted for as much steel as is being used to build all the facilities that will support London’s Olympic games next year. And if you line up every Qashqai produced at the Sunderland plant, they’d measure 2,700 miles end-to-end – that’s enough to line Britain’s entire coastline.

Not about to stop there, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn recently announced during a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron that an all-new Qashqai will be entirely designed, engineered and built in the UK. Follow the jump for the full press release.

Continue reading Nissan builds one millionth example of vehicle with name nobody can pronounce

Nissan builds one millionth example of vehicle with name nobody can pronounce

Automotive News is reporting that Chrysler has failed to stop a clothing manufacturer from selling “Imported from Detroit” apparel on the grounds of trademark infringement. U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow ruled in favor of Pure Detroit, saying that the automaker’s request failed to show that the manufacturer would suffer any irreparable harm by the apparel company’s actions. The judge also pointed out that Chrysler doesn’t actually have a trademark on the “Imported from Detroit” slogan. After Chrysler aired its ad for the company’s 200 during this year’s Super Bowl, Pure Detroit began churning out T-shirts. The automaker sued Moda Group in March, and Pure Detroit counter sued in April.

The clothing maker’s suit argued that Chrysler doesn’t hold a trademark on the phrase in part because of the fact that the slogan is geographical and somewhat misleading, as Chrysler is actually based in Auburn Hills and the 200 is assembled in Sterling Heights. Apparently Judge Tarnow agrees with Pure Detroit’s assessment.

Chrysler legal bid to halt ‘Imported From Detroit’ merchandise sales falls short

Should Porsche Make Cars That Even Hint At Driving Themselves?

We have to remind ourselves to breath deeply at these high-tech junctures in the road. Porsche is still first and foremost a remarkable sports car company that we all love and adore for so many reasons. In recent years, yes, Porsche has challenged all of us with some product and tech moves that have caused a groundswell of debate. But the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen based company still continually makes the lion’s share of enthusiasts dream big.

We have just been brought to the company’s hardcore research & design center in Weissach in the verdant farm country just outside of Stuttgart to drive special Panamera S test mules equipped with the most recent iteration of an ECU-software development that Porsche knows is going to make people like us fret. Until we actually experience it first hand.

Adaptive Cruise Control is a pretty quotidian option these days, especially on larger Porsches that get driven regularly in busy highway traffic. It’s a good idea that’s been serving owners faithfully since its introduction.

But we’ve just tried the next phase in ACC development, called ACC InnoDrive, short for Innovative Drive. It’s officially part of the Intelligent Drive Strategy sub-group within the Porsche Intelligent Performance umbrella. The InnoDrive system takes ACC into areas of our driving lives that a Porsche shopper would never have imagined from the brand just 10 years ago. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, maybe BMW, you bet. But the winningest company in racing?

Continue reading 2014 Porsche ACC InnoDrive tested… hello, Big Brother?

2014 Porsche ACC InnoDrive tested… hello, Big Brother?

Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima’s 9:51.278 run up Pikes Peak was simply amazing to watch. We were fortunate enough to see it in person, and we’ve shown you still photos of the record-breaking event. This was one of those “You had to be there” moments in motorsports. Still, don’t fret if you didn’t make the trek to the 14,115-foot summit, because GoPro installed enough cameras to capture every angle of Monster’s run, and then some.

We spoke with the GoPro team as we rode in the media van down the mountain. They have quite a job of editing ahead of them. Still, they managed to get one video out that requires no mucking about. A camera was mounted on top of Tajima’s 2011 Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special, and the footage is excellent. On the tarmac sections, the video almost seems sped up, but that’s what 910 horses can do.

Want to ride along with Monster from the green to the checkered? Click past the jump to watch a video that will keep you entertained for nearly 10 minutes.

Continue reading Ride along with Monster Tajima as he rockets up Pikes Peak

Ride along with Monster Tajima as he rockets up Pikes Peak

When most carmakers try to retrace their roots, they do so with neo-retro resurrections of classic models. Think Mini Cooper, Fiat 500, Dodge Challenger and such. But when Morgan went back to its roots, it did so in a decidedly different style, bringing the Threewheeler back into production while forging ahead with contemporary takes on its classic designs.

The new Threewheeler debuted in Geneva just a few months ago, and has just made its UK debut at London’s Salon Privé before heading to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed. The car packs a 115-horsepower V-Twin engine hanging off the front of the car between the two front wheels with an extra wheel along for the ride in the back of the old-school open-air body.

But how many people, you ask, would want a car with no roof and three wheels? 480. That’s how many deposits, according to reports, Morgan has received for the what’s-old-is-new-again trike roadster. Pile those on top of the 740 cars Morgan sold last year, and their 1,000-unit annual production target suddenly looks well within reach.

Morgan isn’t about to stop there, however, with plans to introduce a new model every year. The sleek, four-seat EvaGT is set to enter production in 2013, but before it does, the British niche automaker reportedly has plans to show us something new at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. We’ll be watching, and waiting to see how many wheels it’s got.

Morgan filling order books for Threewheeler, plans new model every year

Fifth Gear’s Tiff Needell and Jason Plato (lucky bums!) had a go at both the McLaren MP4-12C and Ferrari 458 Italia, testing each car for thrills and for precision. While both may seem to be winners in the pantheon of automotive excellence, one one can come off victorious.

Both drivers render the same verdict, and it’s the kind of final assessment you don’t often get from motoring shows: one wins on paper, then gets trounced once they discard the spec sheet and grab the wheel.

Powerslides, tire smoke and some unintentional off-roading can be found in the video after the jump. Enjoy!

Continue reading Fifth Gear pits McLaren MP4-12c against Ferrari 458 Italia

Fifth Gear pits McLaren MP4-12c against Ferrari 458 Italia

We’re not really sure why, but a Skoda has been sacrificed to recreate Robert Kubica’s near-fatal February rally crash that threw his future into question. Using a completely stock Skoda Fabia, they ran the car into an Armco barrier at about the same angle and clip Kubica was going (you may recall that this same crash was already subject to the computer simulator treatment).

Simply put, the results are horrifying. This video proves suggests that not only was Kubica extremely lucky during his Andora incident, but the structural improvements to his race car almost certainly saved his bacon. Click past the jump to see the video for yourself.

Continue reading Robert Kubica’s disastrous rally crash recreated with real Skoda

Robert Kubica’s disastrous rally crash recreated with real Skoda

Thus far, the Cruze has been a big success for Chevrolet. Although you could chalk up part of its meteoric rise to a lack of supply from Japan, the Cruze was the best-selling compact in America last month. To build on that success, General Motors is reportedly developing a two-door coupe Cruze for future production.

Although officials have yet to confirm the Cruze coupe, reports indicate that development is already well under way, with production earmarked for the Orion, Michigan, plant where the Sonic is being built. Why not the Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cruze sedan is built? That facility is already running at full capacity – even into overtime – just to meet demand.

It would be interesting to see the Cruze spawn a coupe variant, particularly since two-door versions of the Cobalt and the Cavalier that preceded it, lamentable though they were, proved popular among teenagers as first cars. We particularly miss the Cobalt SS, which was available in both coupe and sedan bodystyles before the model was discontinued, as it offered one of the best performance to price ratios on the market.

Chevy developing two-door Cruze

The man known as Monster Tajima once ran all 12.42 miles of Pikes Peak in 10:01.408. That was 2007. Four years later, Tajima-san is back to make the trip in even less time. Is a sub-nine-minute time in the cards for the 2011 International Pikes Peak Hill Climb? Nobuhiro Tajima and his team think so. They’ve returned to the mountain with an updated Monster Sport Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special, and the 910-horsepower beast is ready run.

We got to spend a few moments with Tajima’s updated Suzuki before it hit Tejon Street for Fan Fest. The car is littered with cameras courtesy of sponsor GoPro, but the video equipment isn’t part of the go-fast upgrades. Monster Sport came prepared to run on the increased amount of tarmac, which means changes were made to the suspension, spring rates, tires and wheels. Falken custom-built a set of tires that features a tarmac-specific tread pattern and delivers serious grip. They’re wrapped around a set of HRE forged monoblock wheels dubbed the P43S Tajima Specials.

Still, the heart of the SX4 sits directly behind Tajima. A 3.1-liter twin-turbocharged V6 pushes the car to speeds well over 100 miles per hour in the blink of an eye. Couple that with the close-ratio transmission, and Monster has a machine built with one goal. Will he accomplish it and become the first man to record a sub-10 minute run? We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out, but we’ve spoken to the man and seen his car. Stay tuned. Pikes Peak history could be in the making.

Up close with Monster Tajima’s Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special

Nothing punishes quite like the Nürburgring. Drive anything around its twisting, undulating ribbon of tarmac and you know the suspension is working overtime. But it’s quite another matter to see it. Unfortunately, the suspensions on most cars are hidden beneath their bodywork – but not on a Caterham Seven.

The classic lightweight roadster has its wheels placed outboard, so when the suspension is in motion, you can see the whole car working, its cycle fenders bobbing up and down. And that’s just what you’ll see in the video after the jump.

The boys over at Bridge to Gantry – those lovers of everything Nordschleife – headed home to the Green Hell in an R300 Superlight. Not the most powerful car Caterham has ever made (in fact you’ll see its 178hp engine maxing out around 125 mph flat-out) but its low, low curb weight, coupled to the expertise of the driver behind the wheel, more than makes up for it, as he passes hot hatches, a Porsche, a motorbike and even a Chevrolet Corvette – along with one car that got spit out the top of the second Karousel. Follow the jump to see for yourself.

Continue reading Caterham R300 Superlight tackles the Nürburgring

Caterham R300 Superlight tackles the Nürburgring

Quick Spin: 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder

After a day of driving the 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder on good roads all around Stuttgart’s farm country and blasting along the no-limit Autobahn, we break down like always and decide it’s pretty damned cool to possess any 911 Turbo S whatsoever.

Minis on Top tackles the Mt. Washington Auto Road, we tag along for the drive

This is a narrow road with two directions of traffic, no protective barriers and a long drop-off that sits uncomfortably close to your car’s tires. Still, this a must-drive road.

Autoblog Beta: New areas are open for business

As most of you wonderful beta testers already know, there are many areas of Autoblog Beta that aren’t done yet. Today we’re announcing that most of those areas of the site have been launched, which makes Autoblog Beta itself much, much closer to completion.

Also of interest:

• Is this the 2013 Cadillac ATS?
• Official: Final Bugatti Veyron sold… sort of
• Video: BMW M3 CRT gets first official footage
• Official: Lexus LS 600h L Landaulet for Monaco Royal Wedding blows our minds [w/videos]
• Study: 2011 J.D. Power Initial Quality report praises Lexus, Honda, pans Ford

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What you missed on 6.24.11

Driving the Mt. Washington Auto Road is an eight-mile journey that invokes a range of emotions. The start of the ascent fills one with excitement, while the first views into the distant New England surroundings move you to a sense of awe. Transition from tarmac to dirt, however, and awe gives way to trepidation. This is a narrow road with two directions of traffic, no protective barriers and a long drop-off that sits uncomfortably close to your car’s tires.

Still, this a must-drive road, and we were delighted when Mini reached out with an invitation to join them on a trip to the top. Our ride was a 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman with fresh rubber and a manual transmission, and our expectations for the experience climbed into the clouds. Would the compact Clubman prove to be an ideal chariot for this New Hampshire ascension adventure?

Continue reading Minis on Top tackles the Mt. Washington Auto Road, we tag along for the drive

Minis on Top tackles the Mt. Washington Auto Road, we tag along for the drive

BMW has been so kind as to give us all a glimpse at the company’s upcoming M3 CRT. The engineers behind the German automaker’s M performance arm have taken pains to dip their standard M3 into a vat of delicious carbon fiber, and the result is a lightweight version of the menacing sedan. Designed to show off the manufacturer’s new carbon fiber technologies, the M3 CRT wears a CF hood that’s as strong as conventional steel but with a quarter of the weight. The same methods were applied to the vehicle’s seats.

The old muffler has been scrapped for a titanium unit, and lightweight Y-spoke wheels and brake calipers are part of the recipe as well. In an effort to trim fat wherever possible, the M3 CRT even wears less sound deadening than the standard model. BMW also reworked the vehicle’s suspension with a more rigid subframe and adjustable coilovers, which means there’s plenty of stick on hand.

That’s good given that a 450 horsepower version of the company’s naturally-aspirated 4.4-liter V8 sits behind the headlights. The grunt gets channeled to the rear tires via a seven-speed dual-clutch cog box.

We hear the very-limited-edition CRT will cost a mint (on the order of 130,000 Euros including taxes – around $185k U.S.), so don’t expect to see any examples at your stateside BMW dealer anytime soon. Even so, you can still hit the jump to check out the walk-around for yourself.

Continue reading BMW M3 CRT gets first official footage

BMW M3 CRT gets first official footage

Continue reading 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder

2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder