Pontiac will continue it’s GT class racing efforts with the new GXP.R, a car that replaces the successful GTO.R (pictured). The GXP.R is being tested today for the very first time in Florida. Pontiac is looking to rack up wins, so it’s decided to continue its development partnership with Pratt & Miller Engineering who spent most of last season working on the new car. The GXP.R, photos of which GM has yet to release, is set to bow at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona carrying primary sponsorship from Leighton Reese’s Banner Engineering. Continue reading Proof of evolution: Pontiac announces next gen GXP.R racer for GT racing
Categories:Pontiac
Toyota has announced that the 2007 Tundra CrewMax (read: four-door model) will be unveiled at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in early January. But why wait until Autoblog arrives in Detroit next month to see the big behemoth, we have a blurry cameraphone pic of the CrewMax for you now. The photo was found by Autoblog reader Terry D. on SnoWest.com, a snow mobile forum of all places. 
The roster for the 2007 Formula One season has been released by F1’s international governing body, the FIA (Federation International d’Automobile). Most of the information was already known, but even after it’s all been confirmed, there remain a host of question marks. Tobacco sponsorship is on its way out, and Honda has yet to name a replacement for its outgoing title sponsor Lucky Strike. Honda’s kid-sister team Super Aguri has also listed a “TBA” along with their official title of “Super Aguri F1 Team”, indicating they’re still searching for a title sponsor as well. 
Although several months old now, the Ferrari Classiche program had one of its big coming out parties at the LA Auto Show last week. A beautiful 275 GTB sat at the back of the Ferrari booth, glowing as brightly as the modern 599 GTB grand touring cars out in front. One of the first Classiche cars, it was sporting a wholly new engine under that elegant bonnet. Similar to what Mercedes does at the Classic Car Center in Irvine, CA, Ferrari offers Classiche customers the chance to have their classic or vintage vehicle restored using factory blueprints, parts, molds and technicians to guarantee its authenticity. 
With its four siblings getting a 5-star crash rating, and perfect scores for the past two years, we imagine there were few of you worrying about the safety of the new CR-V from Honda. The NHTSA awarded the little sport ute 5 stars across the board on crash ratings and gave it a little smiley-face sticker too. Passengers in the new Honda are surrounded by a full range of standard air bags and held upright by standard stability control. 
Jaguar unveiled a mildly tweaked 2008 S-Type at the Bologna Motor Show today to what we imagine could only be a reaction of complete indifference. As we reported earlier, the S-Type’s replacement will be called the XF and be a much better car in every way compared to its predecessor, which makes a refreshened S-Type for 2008 a big snore. The changs for 2008 include disseminating the racier S-Type R’s bumper and mesh grille across the entire range, as well as what appear to be smoked lenses for the headlights. 
An anonymous tipper has just informed us that Hertz will be auctioning off a large batch of its very exclusive rental car, the Shelby Mustang GT-H, to Ford dealers from Thursday, December 7th through December 21st. If we understand our source correctly, six auctions will occur around the country beginning in Manheim, PA, then moving to Hayward, CA; Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Fontanca, CA; and finally back to Manheim, PA. 113 models of the Shelby GT-H, all used as rental cars, will be auctioned off in total, with each auction getting 15 – 20 units to sell. 
These engineers at Brabus sure are tough guys to please. Apparently, the top speed record they set at Nardo with the Brabus Rocket wasn’t good enough. Some of you may recall that back in June, we reported that the Rocket maxed out at 362.4 km/h (225.18 mph) on a top speed attempt at the Italian track. That was good enough to snare the uber-CLS the lofty title of “Fastest Sedan in the World.” 
Ahhh, 80s week. We’ve already seen one of our favorite Germans and a blocky Japanese classic. Today, we take a virtual road trip up to New Hampshire for a little Scandinavian treat. Patrick’s 1987 Saab 900 Convertible was bought four years ago for a reasonable-sounding $1,800. At the time, he says, the car was junkyard material. Luckily for the ragtop Saab, Patrick (a.k.a. Flickr user smackdownsaab), was prepared to give it the TLC and financial support needed to bring it up to daily-driver standards. We’d say that things worked out quite well. 
Subaru is paying tribute to the late Richard Burns, 2001’s World Rally Champion, by offering a special-edition Impreza in his honor. The RB320 STi’s name is derived from Richard’s initials and the power output of the car’s engine. All the Richard Burns editions receive the Prodrive Performance Pack, which in addition to delivering the 320 horses, includes an uprated suspension that puts the Subie 30mm closer to the ground. 
GM, in what can only be termed as a smart move, has killed plans to redesign its minivan lineup for the 2009 model year. Like Ford, which axed the slow-selling Windstar, GM will euthanize it’s rather awful minivan lineup, meaning that we won’t have the Chevy Uplander, and Buick Terraza around to use as punchlines anymore. Instead, GM will focus on its new full-size crossovers that feature 3-row seating — the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave. 
We told you last week that reports of Cadillac building a long-wheelbase version of the DTS were true, and now we have confirmation in the form of official shots of the long legged sedan released by General Motors today. While no information accompanied the images, you can clearly see about 6 to 8 inches of extra wheelbase that makes itself evident behind the rear doors.