Jeep is putting their Grand Cherokee Laredo X into production. It’s a factory-murdered big boy with standard 20-inch wheels and features tonal trim in either gloss black or obnoxious Deep Cherry Red. The “X” is not its actual moniker, this new SUV needs a name and Jeep is running an online contest letting Joe Public come up with the name. What would you call it?
Shelby Mustangs are to the muscle car tradition what Jack Daniel’s is to whisky. Pure, unquestionable American badass. Carroll Shelby’s factory custom performance packages have been keeping the Mustang smoke show, burn out, and off-the-line neck snap alive and well on our streets for, 50 years now, and to celebrate this legacy, they’re releasing 3 new beasts. The GTS, the GT 350, and barely legal GT500 SuperSnake. Hold on tight.
Most of these mid-size SUVs are little more than a safety capsule for soccer moms and not only do they rarely see life off-road, most aren’t even built for it. Not so for Audi’s latest variant of the Q3, called the Vail. It’s got flared wheel arches to spit snow out and flying gravel. Factory roof rails accommodate your ski and board racks while in the cockpit, a plugged-in thermos bottle keeps your morning Joe warm on the way to the hill. There’s also a charging station in the trunk for electronics and safety. C’mon, steer it into the snowbank, you know you want to.
Nobody really wants their new cars, so Ford is adding another old school Mustang body to its growing line of vintage body shell offerings. Licensed through Ford, the new 1967 Mustang body is a spec-correct complete from Dynacorn Int, and it’s ready for your custom car project.
We’ve been wondering when Beemer would unveil its own 4-door coupe; its answer to the Mercedes CLS and Porsche’s pumped-up Panamera. That time is apparently 2013, when the German automaker will ship its new Gran Coupe 650i, a big, wide, 300 horsepower executive-class battleship.
From a distance, Toyota’s GT 86 concept car could pass for next year’s Hyundai Tiburon but lucky for Toyota this thing’s got a lot more nut. Few details have leaked so far but the car blogs are all claiming 200-mph from a 2.0-liter boxer powerplant. Worth a closer look? We think so.
On the outside, the 2013 Shelby GT500 looks only slightly updated. It’s got that familiar steroid-pumped muscularity but where the real upgrades have been made are in performance. You can look up the whole spec sheet but we just want to inform you this thing will do 200 miles per hour off the lot. Ponder that number for a moment.
Hopefully Subaru has its new BRZ STI concept car ready-to-roll when the next Fast & Furious sequel starts filming because this thing will steal the show. With Suby’s proven STI boxer engine mounted super low in the chassis it will give this little rocket the lowest center of gravity of any car on the market today. Translation: race car handling in your daily driver. Bring it on.
By now we know better than to expect American automakers to produce a small car that any of us want to drive. But, the partnership between Chrysler and Italy’s Fiat brand looks promising. The Fiat 500 Abarth will soon be imported to the states and this little jellybean rips. It’ll pack a snappy 1.4 liter turbo and, as you can see, a rather aggressive look.
The “sport” part in the 2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport means that instead of going full mid-life, you were a good “sport” and compromised. Instead of buying a blown vintage coupe you got an executive slash family car that makes you feel cool for your age.
