The Chevrolet Volt is probably one of the most hotly anticipated vehicle launches of this decade, and GM is set to deliver on its promise of having the Volt on the road by 2010. That plan is to roll out 10,000 Volts by the end of calendar year 2011, with another 30,000 Volts to follow in 2012. The first units will be available to California, Washington D.C, Austin, Texas and the New York metropolitan areas yet this year. Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the balance of Texas and New York will start receiving units in the first quarter of 2011. The rest of the USA will have to wait about a year for production to ramp up. To make sure that GM’s dealer network is ready for the Volt, GM is requiring special sales and service training, as well as the installation of a 240-volt charging station before a dealership can receive a Volt for retail sale. As with any good thing in life, I guess some things are just worth waiting for. We’ll let you know when we get our first go with a production spec Volt! Read more…
Mercedes-Benz took a traditional approach (sort of) with the 2011 E550 Cabriolet, shown here at the 2010 NAIAS, and equipped it with a classic soft top. Creature comfort, however, is still Mercedes’ top priority as the Cabriolet features the AIRCAP and AIRSCARF systems. The AIRCAP utilizes a pop-up net above the windscreen and a draft-stop deployed between the rear seats to cut down on turbulence. With AIRSCARF each seat is equipped with HVAC ducts that gently blow warm air around the occupants neck to compensate for otherwise less-than-ideal ambient conditions during top-down motoring.
In what is now ancient and obscure automotive history, in the late 1960s American Motors decided to shorten the chassis of its pony car offering, the Javelin, in order to create a hard-to-categorize two seat AMX. A decade and a half later Honda seemed to have the same idea by abbreviating the chassis of the mundane Civic, creating a nimble and attractive two seater. Read more…
Econoline, Express, Savana, Beauville, Ram Van. These are not typically vehicle names that are brought up in conversations with auto enthusiasts unless one is talking about its merits as a tow vehicle. The general public has been largely disinterested with the entire full size van market ever since the Chrysler minivans debuted in 1984, forever changing the van market. Read more…
It’s official! The CTS-V Sport Wagon exists in show car form and has been confirmed for production. The rendering above depicts the show car CTS-V Sport Wagon that will debut at the New York Auto Show. Aside from the extra cargo room and a few more svelte trimmings the Sport Wagon carries all the goods of its sedan and coupe stablemates. Even the 6-speed manual transmission will make the options list; good for putting all 556-hp and 551 lb-ft of torque from the 6.2L Supercharged V8 to the pavement. Another neat piece of trivia is that the New York show car will be bathed in the same Midnight Silver paint that adorned the graceful flanks of the Cadillac Sixteen showcar back in 2003. While we love the color, we assure you that will be the last thing on our minds once we get our hands on this smoking hot estate! Read more…
We brought you news of Chevy’s limited edition 2011 Corvette ZO6 Carbon a little bit ago, but GM would only share a pair of photos at the time. Thankfully, they’ve remedied that problem. Click into the post to see more detail shots of the Carbon in all its menacing glory! Read more…
Well its offical. You can have your cake and eat it too. The 2011 Mustang GT equipped with the 412-horsepower 5.0L V8 will return (when driven sans lead foot) 26 mpg. The announcement came this morning, the EPA rating for the 2011 Mustang coupes are as follows: Read more…
With the Crown Victoria being completely phased out at the end of 2011 Ford needed to prep another car for Police duty, or lose that market to Charger and Impala / Caprice completely. Enter the 2011 Ford Police Interceptor Concept. Think of it as a tough as nails Taurus. Read more…
There are not too many days that go by that the editors here at the AT ranch don’t start a conversation with something like: “You know what would make the ZO6 even sweeter” or “Do you suppose Bob Lutz would take me for a ride in his jet figther?” Well, today one of those fantasies came true, and I can assure you no one at the office received a phone call from Maximum Bob! Read more…
We’ve always been a fan of the Ford Edge and it’s Lincoln MKX twin, but we’ve also always wondered what they would look like if Ford just took one more step away from the cautious line it’s been toeing for the better part of the 2000’s. Well now we know, and it looks like Ford loosed the cuffs on Dearborn’s imagination a bit. Read more…
