On Tuesday, President Barack Obama visited the Washington Auto Show, and he even had time to get a closer look at a few vehicles. We’re guessing that the carmakers were more than happy to set aside some time to talk to the Commander In Chief, but not every automaker got the chance.
Bloomberg says that the Association of Global Automakers is upset because the president only spent time with the Detroit Three, even though other automakers reportedly flew in executives from around the world for the occasion. The executives were reportedly on hand and waiting in a “bullpen” in the event President Obama had any questions about specific vehicles, but The Pres stuck to American cars like the , , and the .
AGA CEO Michael Stanton voiced his disappointment about the perceived slight, adding that many members “bent over backwards to meet the request from the White House.” Stanton also points out that AGA members have invested $43 billion in the U.S. and employ over 80,000 workers here.
We’d guess a thief’s favorite is whichever one he happens to be hooning around in – ahead of either illegally selling it, stripping it for parts or falsifying its VIN to pass it off as a legit car. But the ‘Stang that’s attracted the most attention from this scourge of society is none other than the 2000 Mustang.
While we’re not sure what it is about the venerable pony car in that model year that’s caused it to rise to the top of the inaugural National Insurance Crime Bureau “Hot Wheels Classics” report on Mustangs, we are finding the study to be compelling reading. Who knew that 411,155 Mustangs have been stolen since 1981? The report is similar to , but focused on just Mustang thefts, with data dating all the way back to 1964. Apparently NICB got the idea to do a Mustang-centric report after being asked for data from MustangEvolution last year.
Even more interesting than the report, however, is that NICB has also posted a six-minute documentary about how it helped reunite a Shelby GT350 with its rightful owner some 25 years after the car had been stolen. While not exactly part of the report, the video is a pretty cool showpiece for the nonprofit group that investigates car theft and insurance fraud.
To read the full press release and check out the NICB’s video, click .
If you’ve been enjoying Forza 4 on your Xbox 360 but have been clamoring for some new cars to try out, you’ll want to mark February 7 on your calendar. That’s when Microsoft is releasing the new American Le Mans Series pack, complete with ten new cars in digital, downloadable format.
The February ALMS Pack includes some serious race machinery, including the Audi R18 TDI that reigns as current champion at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mazda 787B that was the last Japanese car to win the race back in 1991, the new Panoz Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans”, and the iconic 1986 Sport Quattro S1. Also included are the Platinum Motorsport , Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s , the 1992 Alfa Romeo 155 Q4 touring-car-for-the-road, the 1995 Cobra R, the Holden HSV GTS and, for when a little hatchback is called for, the Volkswagen Polo GTI.
The downloadable content pack is included in the Forza Motorsport 4 Season Pass, or can be bought for 560 MS Points (worth $7). Check out the new additions in the and the image gallery above.
We’ve finally come to accept the fact that we’ll never be Vaughn Gittin Jr. There can be only one one pure-bred drift hooligan of his caliber on this planet and truth be told, our sideways skills are paltry at best. That doesn’t mean we can’t pretend, though. Gittin Jr. has teamed up with a smattering of companies to give away five very limited-edition RC cars made up in the image of his sinister drift machine. Only 5,000 of the HPI RC Ford Mustang cars will be produced in total, and Gittin Jr. is giving five of them away to Facebook fans.
To get the word out, Gittin Jr., K&N, Monster Energy and Falken Tire crafted a video demonstrating just what happens when the drifter can’t get his hands on the scale Mustang. An epic chase ensues, with the RC car taking a little “How it’s Made” tour of the K&N factory. The clip also features a few outtakes worth watching, as well. We won’t spoil it for you, but we will say more than one RC car gave its life in the making of the film. to check out the video for yourself. If you want to enter the sweepstakes, head over to the for more information.
The world would be considerably less entertaining if we could all predict the future. Even so, the classic car gurus at Hagerty Insurance have cast a few chicken bones in an attempt to figure out which vehicles produced today might eventually turn collectible.
The company restricted entrants to hardware with a price tag of less than $100,000, so the list isn’t populated with too many wild exotics. While vehicles like the , , and are low-hanging fruit, the list also featured a few surprises.
For starters, it begins with none other than the mighty . Hagerty says the vehicle is a win because it’s the first Buick with a manual transmission since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. The also makes an appearance alongside an even hotter hatch, the . Of course, we’re simply thrilled to see the sinister make a showing. for the full list or view each vehicle in our gallery above.
Car & Driver’s annual Lightning Lap is back for its sixth year, with 20 of the world’s best vehicles taking to Virginia International Raceway to lay down the quickest time around VIR’s 4.1-mile Grand West Course.
Included in this year’s running is a suitably diverse spread of sports cars and sedans, ranging from the lowly to the formidable – a difference of 350 horsepower and over $168,000. And, just to add a bit more spice to the festivities, C/D introduced a new class (LLT) to include two trucks in the running: the and .
But what C/D gives, it taketh away. Gone is the LL5 class ($250,000 and up) and so are the LLU cars, like the Mosler MT900S, the current Lightning Lap champion. And we’re perfectly okay with that. After all, we’re more interested in how the hangs with the and where the stacks up against the – and not just for convoluted naming conventions. Check out a the video for a taste and then .
Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]
Elevating The Muscle Car Rivalry To A Whole New Level
versus . It’s one of the greatest rivalries in the world, joining the likes of Coke versus Pepsi and Michigan versus Ohio State. While the and can’t be credited as the first two vehicles to start the Blue Oval and Golden Bowtie wars, it’s fair to say the two muscle cars kicked the battle into high gear in the 1960s.
Wherever there are rivals, you can be sure there will also be healthy levels of both respect and distaste for one another. In fact, emotions from Ford fans following the debut of both the and culminated in Camaro lead engineer Al Oppenheiser being unwittingly cast in the lead role of another . Perhaps it was …
Of course, none of this ZL1 versus GT500 smack-talk will amount to anything if either car isn’t up to snuff. With that in mind, At Chevrolet’s behest, we traveled to the Bondurant Road Course just south of Phoenix, Arizona to put the 2012 Camaro ZL1 through its paces.
The time has come for the to find a new owner. Built by Galpin for industrial company SPX, this specially built features a hand-built body that widens the car by an incredible nine inches highlighted by PPG Candy Apple Red paint. Under the hood is a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 producing over 700 horsepower, and it has also been fitted with forged three-piece wheels, a custom suede interior, upgraded exhaust system and more.
Whether it was the look and sound of the car or whether bidders were simply feeling generous, this attention-grabbing pony car nabbed a final bid of $160,000, all of which will be donated to benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. You can see our live photos above, or to watch a video of the car being auctioned off in case you missed it on SPEED.
When Steve Saleen launched his new company, SMS Supercars, back in 2008, he announced that he would be expanding his portfolio of vehicles to include the muscle car offerings from and . First up was the , followed soon after by the .
Now, Steve Saleen’s muscle car trifecta is finally complete, as SMS officially unveiled the 620 Camaro at this week. The car maintains the styling cues featured on both the Challenger and Mustang with an aggressive front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, butterfly hood and chrome 20-inch wheels. Inside is a custom leather interior, and under the hood, the 6.2-liter V8 has been supercharged to 620 horsepower and 570 pound-feet torque.
In addition to unveiling the car at Barrett-Jackson this week, SMS actually auctioned off the first production example last night. This particular car was also a special “Bondurant Edition” in honor of Steve Saleen’s former racing teammate, Bob Bondurant, and the two decided to donate the proceeds from the sale to two charities: and the .
So, how did the car do? Bidding for the SMS 620 Camaro eventually reached the $100,000 mark, meaning the two charities will be getting a significant donation and the lucky new owner just got a nice tax write-off. Did we mention a Bondurant three-day performance driving school is included with the car?
You can see photos of the 2012 SMS 620 Camaro in the gallery above, and check out a video of the car being auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson in the video .
It would seem on paper that the should easily slay the heavier and less powerful 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1. The former weighs 3,850 pounds and brings 650 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque to the table, the latter carries 4,120 pounds and 580 hp/556 lb-ft.
Not so fast, says Camaro Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser (above). Speaking with Autoblog at an Arizona drive event for the Camaro ZL1, Oppenheiser told us, “We’ve done simulations. We predict that the ZL1 will be quicker to 60 than the [2013] GT500… We ran the Nürburgring and released a time. Ford took the GT500, too, and never released a time. I guess you can draw your own conclusions.”
When asked point-blank if he thought the ZL1 would be quicker around the ‘Ring, Oppenheiser replied, “No question.”
Them sounds like fighting words, especially in the face of data that suggests the opposite is true. Remember, this is the same guy who for encouraging Ford to throw everything it can at the Camaro.
But we’re not counting Oppenheiser among the crazy just yet. All that power generated by the GT500’s supercharged 5.8-liter V8 will be for naught if it can’t reach ground without turning into tire vapor, and let’s not forget that the Blue Oval’s bomber is still dragging around a solid rear axle, compared to the all-independent suspension sporting third-generation Magnetic Ride shocks on the ZL1. And who’s doing the driving can always be the great equalizer when talking ‘Ring times.
We’re still inclined to put our chips on the blue square, but nothing’s certain until these two titans of Detroit meet head-to-head.
To the average driver, the term “horsepower” has, for all intents and purposes, no meaning whatsoever. Not surprising, really, as there isn’t any single established explanation, at least not a good one, as to how today’s piston-powered engines became so intertwined with the output of a horse. Think, for a moment: Can you really quantify how much power 200 horses produce? Regardless, and though not all engines have been measured with the same methods of certification, enthusiasts of the four-wheeled kind have well over a century of automobiles and their attendant horsepower ratings with which to occupy themselves.
The , way back in 1908, offered up 20 horsepower. The original air-cooled was rated at 50 horses or less, depending on the year and displacement. Fast-forward to 1955, when Chevrolet’s newly introduced small-block V8 made an impressive 162 hp, and then to the release in 1964 of the and its 348-horsepower Tri-Power engine. We’ll shimmy right past the lamentable 1970s and ’80s (in 1975, it was possible to buy a with as few as 165 horses) because, more recently, there’s been a very welcome power resurgence.
Our Editor-in-Chief’s beloved is fitted with a Yamaha 3.0-liter V6 that was factory rated at 220 horsepower, and a few short years later, the offered up a 260-horsepower V8. We bring up the SHO and Impala because they are four-door sedans, meaning horsepower need not be dismissed by the average man who must pile in his spouse and 2.5 children.
And now we have the . Lurking behind its blacked-out grille is a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 engine that ripples the pavement with 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. To put that figure into perspective, its more ponies than such high-horse heavy hitters as the latest and . In fact, it’s 40 horsepower more than the 2012 Corvette. Giddyup.
Certainly, there’s more to the 2012 300 SRT8 than its honker of a V8. But let’s not kid ourselves – if the SRT8 is on your shopping list, it’s 6.4-liter V8 is what put it there.
We normally associate with Roush Performance with the , as we’ve tested several examples over the year from the race-ready to the current 540 horsepower . The Michigan tuner is now looking to expand, though, and has recently introduced a new line of performance products aimed at another segment of the product line, the .
The F-150’s new powertrains are the main focus of Roush’s product blitz, with supercharger systems available for both the 5.0-liter and 6.2-liter V8s. Roush has also developed cold air inductions kits for the entire powertrain lineup with the exception of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. Additionally, Roush is offering a stainless steel cat-back exhaust for most of the F-150 lineup that produces a more aggressive tone than the stock system.
You can read more about the new F-150 products from Roush in the press release , and you can get a closer glimpse at the supercharger and the exhaust system in the gallery above.
Few things make us happier than the notion of turn-key race cars. In a world where large corporations are increasingly risk-averse when it comes to their products, we take private glee in knowing that if we had the means, we could go out and buy a ready-for-battle race car straight from . We aren’t talking about some high-strung quarter-mile , either. The is built for laying waste to your favorite road course as you do battle with the bruisers in the Grand-Am ST and SCCA World Challenge TC series. Now Tanner Foust has set out to give the five-door a quick thrash around Homestead-Miami Speedway.
What did the racer-turned TV personality think? Foust spends plenty of time expounding on the virtues of the Ford Racing program and the importance of having a small-displacement race car in the company’s stable. to check out the video for yourself.
For the last several years has partnered with Barrett-Jackson to auction off some very special vehicles for charity. Past cars have included the first production examples of the and as well as special one-offs like last year’s , all of which have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
For 2012 Ford is once again auction off a for charity, but this year’s car is a little different. Up for grabs will be a development car used by SVT to hone the production ‘Stang. This prototype was run extensively at Sebring and the high speed oval at Ford’s Arizona proving grounds and was even driven by Carroll Shelby himself during the development process. The car has some unique features including a full roll cage and Recaro racing seats, but it will likely remain a museum piece as it can’t be registered for road use.
You can read more about this unique 2013 Shelby GT500 going up for auction in the press release .
My first car was a used 1981 . It was a complete piece of garbage, but it was the best I could do with $900 worth of hard-earned busboy tips. It only had one side mirror, the power steering fluid had to be filled every two weeks and there was a nail in the dashboard. I would have removed that last bit of nonstandard hardware, but whenever the Brown Bomber didn’t want to turn over, touching the nail for luck seemed to work. But compared to my friends’ cars, mine at least looked the fastest. Looks don’t win at the stoplight, though, and my rust-colored ‘Stang featured the double whammy of a 109-horsepower 2.8-liter V6 and an automatic transmission.
To say that my Mustang’s powertrain was a disappointment could be the understatement of the century, but I wasn’t the only V6-powered Mustang owner suffering from horsepower humiliation. It would be another 30 years before Ford would offer a V6-powered Mustang with anything more than mule muscle, but that’s where we are today. The 2012 Mustang boasts a legit 305 horsepower, or more punch than the 4.6-liter V8 under the hood of the 2009 Mustang GT. I have no doubt that the 2012 Mustang is vastly superior to my 1981 shame machine, but does that 305 horsepower and a vastly improved rear-wheel-drive chassis make this Mustang one of America’s great performance bargains? Hit the jump to find out.
We all know sideways is slow. Kicking the tail out and sending the rear tires blazing may take a heaping helping of skill, but it won’t win you any races. That doesn’t make it any less awesome, however.
Icon has gone through the trouble of crafting yet another drift battle between , and this time, two specially built Triumph Speed Triple bikes throw down against a 550-horsepower piloted by a fictional officer of the law. The trio commence tearing through the rolling hills of mythical High Plains County before facing off.
Admittedly, the drift scene isn’t typically our bag of tricks, but this is one of the more entertaining videos we’ve seen in a good while. Between the bark of the FoMoCo V8 and the wail of the big-bore Triumph Triples, there’s enough audio glory on hand to keep us up at night. Throw in some excellent tunes and better videography, and you’ve got us hooked. Watch the video all the way through to the end for some hair-raising outtakes, including at least one roll over. to check it out.
vs. Car Drift Battle 2 debuts, someone called the cops
Press days for the have now officially ended, and a quick survey of our yield reveals more highly anticipated production vehicles and concepts than we’ve seen since the days when The heyday of press conference theatrics may be behind us, but the vehicles themselves have begun to return. Check out the lot of them from this year’s Detroit show below.
This year marks the 50th anniversary since first started adding his magic touch to vehicles, and to celebrate the occasion, his team has announced three new anniversary edition of the here in Detroit. Available on the , and , the package includes gold stripes matched with either black or white paint, custom interior, special wheels, unique VIN and more. A special delivery at the Shelby museum in Las Vegas also comes as part of the deal.
Exclusivity will play a big part of the anniversary Mustangs, as Shelby will only build 100 examples of each car, 50 of each color. Package pricing starts at $59,995 for both the GT500 Super Snake and GT350 (not including the base car), while the GTS is comparatively more affordable with a starting package price of $19,995.
You can read more details about the Shelby anniversary edition Mustangs in the press release , and you can see photos of all three cars in both the official and live galleries.
Motor Trend reports that may forsake the for a resurrected Barracuda. The magazine cites two unnamed sources as saying the nameplate will surface in time to celebrate the vehicle’s 50th anniversary in 2014. If true, the Barracuda will ride on a new smaller and lighter platform that’s more fit to compete with the likes of the and . The vehicle’s bones will likely be shared with Alfa Romeo, which means a turbo four-cylinder may show up behind the Barracuda headlights as well as a fire-breathing V8. MT suggests the design may pull from the original fastback Barracuda, though a notch-back version would allow Chrysler to more effectively compete against the drop-top hardware from Ford and Chevrolet.
We have no doubt Chrysler and are currently investigating ways to breathe new life into the Challenger. The vehicle has been content to plod along as a distant third to its muscle-car rivals, but pulling the Barracuda name back into play seems unlikely. For starters, the Barracuda sailed under the long-dead Plymouth banner, and both Dodge and Chrysler have a long list of hallowed names from which to choose. Stay tuned.
You’ve heard us gush about the before, calling this 444-horsepower coupe “.” Sadly, we have yet to drive the updated 2013 model, which includes, among other things, a reworked front fascia, improved front-end cooling, a more assertive front splitter and new paint and graphics options.
Among those new color choices is Gotta Have It Green, which reminds us somewhat of Emerald Green popularized on models in the 1970s, albeit a bit flatter. Photographed here being jockeyed into place at Ford’s stand this morning, this is actually the second look we’re giving you at Gotta Have It, though these photos are markedly clearer (and more numerous) than the ones we showed you . We like the new reflective ‘hockey stick’ side graphic that replaces the boomerang U-shaped treatment of the 2012 model, but if we’re being honest, we’re on the fence about the pastel-like paint finish.
If you don’t (like) Gotta Have It, there’s also a new Impact Blue paint choice, along with and last year’s Competition Orange, Kona Blue, Black, Ingot Silver, Race Red and Performance White. Unfortunately, we didn’t spy either of the other new colors on Ford’s Cobo Hall show stand while we were , but they could still make the scene before press days get underway next week.
Speaking of high-performance Mustang models, Autoblog has learned that debuting in Motown are 100-percent false (as if to reinforce that fact, we spotted a 2012 model on a display stand). The most-powerful ‘Stang droptop will debut this auto show season, though Ford wouldn’t officially say at which show (we’re thinking ).
So, now that you have a better look at Gotta Have It Green, does it live up to its name? Take our second-chance poll below and let us know what you think in Comments.
Boss 302 snapped getting comfy in Detroit [w/poll]
