Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, GM

While we were pretty sure GM would grace Detroit with the Opel Antara and Holden Efijy, we didn’t expect the WTCC, the T2X… and Carmen Electra. But GM announced this week all five would be in icy, snow-bound Michigan next month.

As you well know, the Antara will be the new Saturn Vue and the WTCC and T2X hint at future Chevrolet style. So where does the sumptious Efijy fit into GM’s North American plan? GM’s press release announcing the North American debut of these concepts doesn’t give any indication where in Cobo Hall the Efijy will be displayed. If we had to guess, the Efijy’s Corvette V8 would score it a parking spot in the Chevrolet booth. But that’s nothing more than pure speculation.

As for Carmen Electra, she and Mario Lopez will be there to give the whole GM stand an air of celebrity. Or something.

Read GM’s entire press release after the jump.

Continue reading GM bringing Efijy, WTCC, Antara, T2X, Carmen Electra to Detroit

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Sedans/Saloons, Wagons/Estates, Chrysler

Click image for a high-resolution photo gallery

With a press conference set to the percussion of the Drum Cafe, Chrysler rolled out the Nassau “shooting brake” concept this afternoon to hint at the future styling direction for the brand and especially its RWD line-up.

Based on the LX platform and stuffed with the SRT8 powertrain (that’s a 425 HP 6.1L Hemi and 5-speed A580 automatic), the Nassau strikes a far different pose than its 300C predecessor. Viewed from a low front 3/4 perspective, the rear cargo area disappears and the silhouette takes on the popular “four-door coupe” appearance. Viewed from behind, well, it has a rather boat-tailed look.

The impossibly white interior features a center stack that brings a cell phone-like appearance, along with console-mounted multimedia controllers for the front and rear passengers. The driver gets to select gearbox position via pushbuttons on the instrument panel and a pair of paddles behind the steering wheel; the gauge package is said to be inspired by “expensive” watches.

Plenty of high-res shots from the press conference are included in our gallery.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Motorsports, Pontiac

Click the image above for a full-sized gallery.

Pontiac’s 2006 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series championship-winning GTO.R has been retired. In its place, the G6 GXP.R is set to compete in the 2007 series, where it will rub fenders with the best and brightest from BMW and Porsche.

The tube chassis racer is built to Grand America GT class specs and equipped with an LS2 pushrod V8, making upwards of 450 HP and sending power to the rear wheels. Although the exterior is a dead ringer for the production G6, most of the body panels have been replaced with carbon-fiber pieces.

Expect the GXP.R to make its debut at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona later this year.

The full press release is posted after the jump.

For our comprehensive listing of everything from Detroit, click here.

Continue reading Detroit Auto Show: Pontiac G6 GXP.R

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, SUVs, Crossovers/CUVs, Volvo

Click the image above for a full sized galllery.

Volvo introduced the XC60 concept last night here at the Detroit Auto Show as a way to appeal to the thirtysomething loft-dwelling crowd (drawing on the momentum of the C30, no doubt), and the Swedes also want to make a design statement in the process. “If today you can see that it’s a Volvo from 50 meters, I want to make that figure twice as big” says Volvo chief designer Steve Mattin, the XC60 accomplishes this via a strongly-stated grille and slanted headlamps that will make their way onto other future Volvos. Other notable exterior features include a rear tailgate that can be lifted independently of the rear hatch (allowing the loading of small cargo with minimum hassle) and a transparent roof panel.

More impressions and a press release can be found after the jump.

For our comprehensive listing of everything from Detroit, click here.

Continue reading Detroit Auto Show: Volvo debuts the oh-so-Swedish XC60

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Podcasts

We took a week off from podcasting to bring you our excellent coverage of the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but now we’re back with episode #54. Of course, the topic at hand is the Detroit Auto Show, and as a special guest we have Sam Abuelsamid on the show. Sam normally contributes to AutoblogGreen, but you’ll start seeing posts from him on Autoblog more often. He was also part of our Detroit coverage team and walked the floor of Cobo for us like a man possessed. Along with the usual suspects of Damon and Alex, our four-man panel reveal our Best of Shows for the 2007 Detroit Auto Show this episode, which includes Best Production Vehicle, Best Concept and Sleeper Hit of the Show. Likewise, we also reveal our Worst of Shows in those categories, as well. We’re not going to spoil the surprise here, so subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes, download episode #54 and follow along as we praise and pan the vehicles of the 2007 NAIAS.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Chevrolet

We were excited to announce when Bob Lutz confirmed that GM was working on a higher-performance version of the Corvette. The announcement finally vindicated all those spy shots of a suped-up Corvette test mule, dubbed the “Blue Devil”, that was caught undergoing developmental testing for so long. And it gave fans of American muscle something to look forward to in the wake of the new 600-horsepower Dodge Viper.

Now reports are surfacing that the highly-anticipated 600-hp Super-Vette, which is what we called it in the absence of anything more official, will wear the Corvette SS badge. You may recall that after the storied SuperSport badge got diluted with less than SuperSporty products, Chevrolet promised it would only use the name for cars that truly deserved it. We think it’s safe to say that the upcoming Corvette SS will be a fitting resurrection of the badge, don’t you?

The Corvette SS, which will be known internally as GMX245-SSC (GMX245 is the product code for the C6-generation Corvette), is tipped to make its debut at next year’s Detroit show. Some of us here at Autoblog will be cryogenically freezing ourselves until then, we’re that stoked.

[Source: Winding Road]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Coupes, Economy, Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Trucks/Pickups, Dodge, Ford, Mitsubishi

Click image for a look at the other model debuts by the NYT

The Old Grey Lady has officially kicked off the Detroit Auto Show 24 hours early, and they brought some party favors for all their readers to boot. The New York Times’ Automobiles section has a Detroit preview article (dated 1/13, incidentally) in its feature spot. No longer under wraps are the 2009 Dodge Ram, 2009 Ford F-150 Platinum, Mitsubishi Concept-RA, Ford Verve sedan concept, and the Fisker plug-in luxo-hybrid, as all are featured prominently in the piece’s accompanying new vehicle gallery.

The biggest fish in the tank are the two full-size trucks. While Chrysler inadvertently gave us a sneak preview of the Ram last month, Ford has kept the new F-150 well under wraps until now. The model pictured is the tip-top-of-the line F-150 Platinum, in case you were wondering. As for the others, the snazzy blue Ram Sport is looking good to these eyes (more on the ‘09 Ram here), while the Verve concept looks to be a slightly tweaked version of the one shown in China, updated with a coat of red paint and a modified fascia (note the differences in the foglamps). The Mitsubishi Concept-RA has us hankering for a new Eclipse, while the shapely Fisker PHEV looks like a green vehicle we’d be more than happy to pilot daily. You can read the Times’ full preview here. Team Autoblog will assemble in Motown starting tomorrow, but it looks like the fun’s begun in earnest already.

[Source: The New York Times]

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Filed under: Coupes, Videos, Supercars, Chevrolet, GM

click above for brand new images of the Corvette ZR1

General Motors invited Autoblog down to its design dome at the Warren, MI Tech Center to have a look at a couple of the vehicles that will be displayed at the Detroit Auto Show next week. Fortunately, it was one of those rare instances where they allowed us to bring in cameras and we took full advantage. One of the two vehicles on display was the recently-unveiled Corvette ZR1. At the time, there was some controversy in our comments about certain design elements of the ZR1, including the window in the hood, the side vents, the carbon fiber and the wheels. We had the opportunity to talk with Corvette Exterior Design Manager Kirk Bennian at the design dome and ask him about all of your concerns. Before you all get riled up, the car we were allowed to photograph was not mechanically correct, but rather a standard Z06 used by the design staff to test out exterior parts. That means it doesn’t have the carbon brake disks and there’s an LS7 under the plastic window instead of the new LS9. For all of you who thought the ZR1 badges on the previous press photos looked cheesy and tacked on, that’s because they were. The proper badges weren’t available yet when GM did its original photo shoot. This car does have the proper badges. View our video tour and interview with Kirk after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading VIDEO/PICS: Your Corvette ZR1 questions answered by design manager

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, New York Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Green

The New York Auto Show in March will provide the official venue to launch the Automotive X-Prize contest, but all 43 entrants will be making an advanced appearance next month in Detroit at the North American International Auto show. The teams vying for the Auto X-Prize have to bring a combination of functionality and fuel-efficiency in order to win the substantial chunk of change offered by the organizers.

The picture above is the Aptera, which through the use of either a plug-in gas-electric hybrid or a straight electric setup can get 300 mpg and has the potential of being retailed for less than $30,000. Some of the entrants could easily be chocked up to vaporware, but we’re sure our colleagues at our greener sibling site will give us the skinny next month in D-town.

[Source: Click On Detroit via Jalopnik]

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Detroit Auto Show

The Automotive X-Prize organizers are gearing up to officially kick off the competition early this year and people will get their first opportunity to meet some of the competitors next week at the Detroit Auto Show. Seven of the teams that have signed letters of intent to compete will be on hand at the X-Prize booth during the media and industry previews before the show opens to the public. Visionary Vehicles, Velozzi, Valentin Technologies, Titling Vehicles Australia, Alpha Core/Poulson Hybrid, Psycho-Active and Michigan Vision will all be there, as will we, starting Sunday at Cobo Hall. Visionary Vehicles is the latest project from Malcolm Bricklin. AutoblogGreen will be sitting down with Mr. Bricklin to discuss his project so stay tuned for that.

[Source: Automotive X-Prize]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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