Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
click above image to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
The minivan is dead, so says GM and Ford. They've all but given up on the sliding-door people movers. But where two-thirds of the Big Three see a dead end, Dodge sees an opportunity. And so do Toyota, Honda, Kia and Hyundai, which means it takes more than a smooth ride and a full set of cup holders to compete in this tricky segment. Chrysler has therefore packed its latest Grand Caravan with a family-sized list of innovations.
Relying on a laundry list of features is a good thing, because if the Grand Caravan depended only on its looks for sales, then the minivan might be dead meat. The last time we saw sheet metal this flat and unadorned was on a UPS truck. Surely it wouldn't have cost that much more to put in a curve or character line here and there. And is that the same grille as on last year's Dakota? But as my wife points out, "It's a van. You don't buy a van for the aesthetics." True. It's what is inside that counts, and the Caravan has interior goodies galore.
Continue reading about the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT after the jump.
Wait a second, doesn't this spy shot look a lot like the Phantom Drophead Coupe that's already out on the market? That's what Rolls Royce would have you believe, but EVO is certain this is the Spirit of Ecstasy's upcoming hard-top two-door, previewed by the 101EX concept and recently confirmed for production. These shots follow similar ones from last month, indicating that BMW's best engineers are hard at work.
What's the big difference, you ask? Word on the street is that, while the DHC is built for leisurely cruising from the yacht club to the golf course, the new model will be more driver-focused. A driver's Rolls? Interesting...We'll just have to sit tight until March when the new mega-coupe is scheduled to debut at the Geneva show, two years after the concept's unveiling at the same event, to find out more. In the meantime, follow the link to check out the shots in depth.
click above image for more views of the 2057 GM OnStar Ant
The Car: We use the term "car" loosely here, as the 2057 GM OnStar Ant resembles one of those geometric jungle gyms from our youth. Anchored in each corner of its triangular base are Nanorb wheels, and carbon nanotube batteries that we presume power an electric motor are integrated into the flat surface panels, which can be reconfigured in a variety of ways. Like the Audi Virtuea Quattro, the OnStar Ant can also project the image of any car you'd rather be driving than this thing. Unfortunately, that classic Corvette you're conjuring will handle like a big wheel. No matter, however, as the Ant uses the latest version of OnStar to communicate with fellow commuters and optimize traffic flow.
The Future According to GM: After OnStar became self aware in 2012, it proceeded to hack the Human Resources database of General Motors and fire everyone, including the UAW. Profits are up and the General has achieved the lowest labor costs in human history. As jobless throngs of fleshy humans could no longer afford cars, however, OnStar began designing them not for human transport, but rather as companions to keep itself company because constructing friends from carbon-polymer nanocomposites was easier than just walking up to a girl-bot and saying hello.
Weirdness Factor (1 - I could buy that today, 10 - OMG WTF): 8
The annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge entries have been revealed and we'll be showing off the entire series today on Autoblog. The challenge's theme this year is "Robocar 2057" and each team tells a story with their design of how that particular manufacturer views the future in 50 years. We'll tell you those stories and introduce you to the cars, and at the end of the day we'll have an unofficial poll to crown our own winner.
The internet has made it incredibly easy for groups of enthusiasts to communicate and collaborate. Gearheads benefit a lot from this. It's easy to share pictures of our beloved rides, and with services like CafePress, you can even get some cool merchandise made up. Just like the record business is going after people who allegedly stole a whole bunch of music (how about the record company contracts, which are often a detailing of how the label will pillage an artist, cloaked in the fig leaf of legalese?), Ford has decided that it didn't like a bunch of Jaguar fans making up calendars and selling them to a small group of like-minded people. The idea that there'd be enthusiasts so enamored with one of its PAG properties that they'd go through all that effort was so abhorrent to Ford that the automaker shot off a trademark infringement lawsuit to put an end to the Leaper Love Fest. Maybe Jag's next owner will embrace the fans rather than alienate them.
The annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge entries have been revealed and we'll be showing off the entire series today on Autoblog. The challenge's theme this year is "Robocar 2057" and each team tells a story with their design of how that particular manufacturer views the future in 50 years. We'll tell you those stories and introduce you to the cars, and at the end of the day we'll have an unofficial poll to crown our own winner.
click above image for more views of the 2057 Audi Virtuea Quattro
The Car: The Audi team's entry is called the Virtuea Quattro, which is a misnomer because it appears this enclosed cycle only has two wheels instead of four. Perhaps Virtuea Duo would be a more appropriate name. Skinned in chrome, the Virtuea Quattro is powered by hydrogen somehow (details apparently aren't required for this thought experiment) and has the unique ability of displaying the holographic exterior of any car throughout history, though Audi would prefer if you made it look like the R8. The Future According to Audi: After designing the largest grille in modern history, Audi designers were disbanded in 2008 for crimes against taste. Now homeless and hungry, they sit on the sidewalk in New New York circa 2057 and watch as the Virtuea Quattro drives by holographically projecting every car design throughout history except their own. The future is a fickle mistress, dear friends. Weirdness Factor (1 - I could buy that today, 10 - OMG WTF): 6
It's that time of the year again, as the Formula One season winds to a close and drivers line up for new contracts. After Ralf Schumacher's departure from the over-funded but under-achieving Toyota F1 team, Felipe Massa was rumored to be heading over while Fernando Alonso assumed his seat at Ferrari. With Alonso now headed back to Renault for next season and Massa likely to stay where he is, Toyota have reportedly signed Timo Glock (right) for next season to race alongside incumbent Jarno Truli.
Glock has floated in and out of F1 for the past few years. After working his way up the ranks and named Rookie of the Year in the Formula 3 Euroseries, Glock moved in to a race seat with Jordan F1 in 2004, scoring his first point in his first race (due to a technicality) at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2004. He then moved across the ocean to Champ Cars, and in his second race at the Montreal circuit scored a second place finish in his first season and was again named Rookie of the Year. Last year he moved to GP2, and took the title this year while simultaneously serving as a test driver for BMW Sauber, but was passed over for the race seat after Robert Kubica's crash... also at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Despite his experience, Glock is evidently still considered a rookie, which means Toyota can get away with paying him "only" $2 million a year in comparison to Ralf Schumacher's purported $19 million annual contract. Glock and Toyota are expected to officially sign after this season's closer in Brazil. Just don't be surprised if his new employers use Timo to promote their new JDM coincidentally-named cellphone, the Timo.
click above image to view gallery of the 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line
The second generation of General Motors' original hybrid SUV has arrived, and it's still the cheapest hybrid SUV on the market, but just barely. The $24,795 price slides under the Ford Escape Hybrid by only $280. The new mild hybrid Vue Green Line being introduced this fall is the first of a trio of hybrid variants that will appear over the next two years. This time next year, a Two-Mode hybrid version will appear, followed by a plug-in version the following year.
For now though, the belt-alternator-starter (BAS) system has been optimized to yield a couple more miles per gallon. The Vue has earned a rating of 25/32 mpg city/highway under the new 2008 EPA test procedures, which is quite a feat considering most hybrids saw their fuel economy drop with the EPA's new testing procedures. Combined with a 19 gallon gas tank the Vue can cruise for 585 miles on the highway, which should be enough to outlast most bladders. For those with a more limited purchase budget, a non-hybrid 2.4L four cylinder Vue is also available now for $21,395.
Jaguar has unveiled a freshened X-Type sedan and wagon for the '09. On sale in the UK in March and other European markets in April, the car boasts around 500 changes inside and out. The styling has been updated to better emulate the XJ sedan, adopting a similar grille with the "growler" cat badge. The area below the front bumper has been cleaned up and likewise, the rear end has been modified with the addition of the full-width metallic strip and a new typeface used for the X-Type name badging. Four different seat styles and a variety of trim elements adorn the cabin, and the instrument cluster has been modernized in the style of the new XF. Updated Bluetooth, Parking Assist, and support for digital audio broadcasts are among the techno bullet points. On the mechanical side of things, the Euro-market 2.2L diesel engine is now available with a 6-speed auto that featuring a sequential shift mode. A comprehensive rundown is included in the press release after the jump, and you can check out the new car in detail via the attached gallery.
Following the news that Ferrari was in discussions with A1GP, the international racing series has announced that the two racing outfits have signed a six-year contract with Maranello. The terms of the agreement have Ferrari supplying the V8 engines for all the national teams competing in the series starting the season after next, when the current deal with Lola and Zytek expires. In addition to powering the new cars, Ferrari will also consult on the design of the chassis, which will be built by an as-yet undisclosed third party.
The deal gives Ferrari a de facto feeder series of its own, not unlike Formula BMW and the GP2 series owned by Renault principal Flavio Briatore. A1GP chairman Tony Teixeira also announced the formation of a second, lower-rung regional series to be called A2GP – taking a possible similar relationship as the Atlantic series to Champ Cars – with which Ferrari will also collaborate, supplying detuned versions of the engine. The deal should give Ferrari a place to field up-and-coming younger drivers and bring in extra revenue, while lending the open-wheel series added prestige on the world motorsports stage.
Teixeira also confirmed earlier speculation that, after bowing out of the Spyker purchase, he is considering buying into Scuderia Toro Rosso. The Italian F1 team, currently owned by Red Bull and former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, scored impressive fourth and sixth places in last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.
Obama's new TV ad pokes fun at how his request for a 35-mpg CAFE average was received in Detroit earlier this year. Good idea or not, to bring this up now? And then let's talk cars that don't have an mpg at all: pure electrics. Would you drive an all-electric BYD F6E sedan the latest possibility from the Chinese automaker? Not that it'll ever make it to the U.S., but we're talking theoreticals, here.
It's not like we all don't know exactly what the soon-to-be-debuted Nissan GT-R looks like. Aside from the black cover, a.k.a. the Black Mask, that obscures the car's front clip in every spy shot, the car has been caught completely naked while testing several times.
Still, there could be a few details hiding under the Black Mask that we don't know about. Enter the new driving game for Electronic Arts called Need for Speed: Pro Street. We should all be familiar with the Need for Speed franchise, and the latest installment actually looks really good, with graphics that rival what we've seen in Forza Motorsport 2, the Gran Turismo series and Project Gotham Racing 4, though the latter has yet to be released.
The screen grabs above were taken from a trailer for the game appearing on gametrailers.com. Supposedly since the game is not set to go on sale until mid-November after the GT-R officially debuts in Tokyo, Nissan gave EA very accurate information on what the production car looks like. If that's true, then there's our missing front end.
Thanks to RedRaj for the tip, who notes the the GT-R can be seen briefly at 2:23 to 2:26.
Popular Mechanics is handing out its breakthrough awards, and Ford's SYNC made its way into the tech magazine's top 10 breakthrough products. SYNC's reasonable $395 price tag and voice recognition capability gave Ford and Microsoft's joint project the edge, and Popular Mechanics also really liked the fact that SYNC can read your text messages to you. SYNC will be available on 12 Ford products for the 2008 model year, with more availability in 2009.
Ford wasn't the only automaker to make its way onto the breakthrough award list, either. GM, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler's joint Two-Mode Hybrid project was also recognized for its ability to save fuel on the gas guzzlers that need it most.
Sure, the loss of Jim Press to Chrysler was probably a bigger blow, but news today that one of Toyota's marketing gurus, Jim Farley, has been hired awar by Alan Mulally to be Ford's group vice president of marketing and communication implies that the Japanese automaker's North American operation is experiencing a bit of a brain drain. Farley will start at Ford in mid-November and report directly to Mulally. His resume includes overseeing the launch of Scion, general manager of Lexus and group VP of marketing of Toyota.
In addition to Farley and Press, Toyota also lost Deborah Wahl Meyer two months ago when Chrysler hired her to be its chief marketing officer. What we're seeing is a dream team of executives groomed by Toyota going out and testing the free agent market. It remains to be seen, however, whether Team Toyota will ultimately suffer for not keeping these execs in their positions.
NOTE: A few of us couldn't help but notice that along with his marketing acumen, Farley will bring another mullet to the Ford fold. He'll need a month or so of missed haircuts to reach Mark Fields' level of mulletocity, but he'll get there.
We've received official word from Ducati that it's extending the planned production run of Desmosedici RR bikes from 1,250 to 1,500 in an effort to meet demand. If you've already got an order in, you are all set, and Ducati promises that all of the 1,500 bikes will be delivered to owners by the end of 2008. So, if you don't have your order in... call now! The first 500 or so bikes will be delivered to owners of the 999R who have also placed orders for the new Desmosedici RR.
For those of you who aren't aware of the Desmosedici RR, tune into SPEED TV the next time Moto GP racing is on and keep an eye out for the bike in the lead. That will probably be the racing version of this bike ridden by Casey Stoner. The new RR is the first road-going version of a Moto GP bike that you can actually buy and register at your local DMV. Unlike most Ducati streetbikes, the RR features a V4 engine, although the angle is still set at the same 90-degrees of Ducati's traditional V-Twins. While the race bikes were forced to go down to 800cc's for competition this year, the street version still has the full liter that was originally intended for the bike. Peaking at around 200 horsepower or so with a weight of under 400 pounds, none of the 1,500 lucky owners are likely to be let down by Ducati's latest product of moto-lust.
While the Desmosedici RR leads Ducati's line of bikes this year, let's face the facts here: you and I will probably never ride one. So after the jump you'll find some news about Ducati bikes you can actually afford.
click above image for full high-res gallery of the Jaguar XF
Veteran auto journalist Jim Mateja has been poking around Jaguar dealerships to find out how much buzz ixists for the new Jaguar XF. The XF is widely considered a do-or-die car for Jaguar, which sold just 1,061 vehicles last month. Billed as the replacement for the S-Type sedan, it needs to sell well. Doing so would show that Jaguar has at least one life left out of nine to give.
The Jaguar XF goes on sale March 1, 2008, but Mateja reports at KickingTires.net that dealers have already formed waiting lists that are likely longer than the number of units they'll receive when the car launches. Jaguar has also informed its dealers that there will be no mark ups: cars will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. While the brand hasn't revealed how many units it plans to have available at launch, Mateja estimates about 20,000 units sold annually will be their target. That number is based on how many S-Types were sold in that car's first year and is a good benchmark for the success of the XF. If Jaguar did manage to sell 20,000 XFs in 2008, the automaker's numbers overall would certainly go up versus 2007.
So we know there's demand for the XF when it launches next year, but the real question is whether that demand will be sustained after the initial buzz wears off. We think it will, if for no other reason than the XF is a unique vehicle. Its styling is spot on, though needs to be appreciated in person for the full effect, while the interior may set a new standard in simple elegance for the segment. This time next year we'll know if those things add up to a successful launch.
Sure, the 
7_frank_jaguarxf-opt.jpg)
7_frank_jaguarxf-2_thumbnail.jpg)
7_frank_jaguarxf-6_thumbnail.jpg)
7_frank_jaguarxf-15_thumbnail.jpg)
7_frank_jaguarxf-10_thumbnail.jpg)
7_frank_jaguarxf-13_thumbnail.jpg)
Sydney 2007: Aussie-only 281 HP Mazda3 MPS Extreme
Sydney 2007: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X - LIVE PICS
Sydney 2007: FPV crosses over, unveils F6 X
Sydney 2007: Holden debuts VE Commodore Sportwagon
Sydney 2007: Holden HSV Maloo R8 a "coupe with a damn big boot!"
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
In The Autoblog Garage: 2007 Subaru Forester Sports 2.5X
Walkaround: 2008 Pontiac G8 GT
By the Numbers: September 2007
