Why is it that people feel the need to saddle perfectly good cars with replica bodywork to make them look like exotics? There’s nothing wrong with the last generation Toyota MR2, true, it’s no Ferrari, but then again, you can buy an entire MR2 for very much less than a Ferrari 360; an amount closer to the downpayment, most likely. We’d keep the bodykit away from the MR2 and spend the extra dough on suspension and engine mods.

If you really must project the image that a Ferrari brings (you know – this car costs more than your house, and I’ll sell it for more, too. Yes, that does make me better than you) you could follow the lead of this MR2 Spyder’s owner. Read more »

Right now luxury carmakers are doing booming business, and rivals BMW and Mercedes are faring better than ever. Both auto manufacturers produce in excess of one million vehicles annually, and profits are coming in by the fistful. At the same time, Audi is growing faster than both luxury stalwarts, and with 22 models coming in the next couple years, the gap may between No. 3 and the perennial Big 2 German luxury autoamakers may shrink even faster. One reason for Audi’s pace is that the folks from Ingolstadt can pool engineering and parts resources with VW, Porsche, and even Lamborghini, giving the luxury maker flexibility to produce more products using less money.

A very competitive market is pushing Mercedes and BMW to work together to find those same synergies, and plenty exist. BMW sales and marketing chief Michael Ganal points out that both companies are premium car makers with a lot of money vested in high tech, and combining resources on some projects will help both companies ultimately remain independent. The two are already working with GM and Chrysler on hybrid powertrains, for instance. Automotive News reports that Ganal didn’t go into details concerning any partnerships, but we’re hoping they do work together to find a new supplier for their unintuitive navigation systems.

[Source: Automotive News -sub. required]

Jaguar scraped together a few bucks to make several less-than-noteworthy changes to the XK, XKR and the X-type, and since they took the trouble of putting together press releases, we felt obligated to pass along the information to you.

The XK and its hotted-up big bro the XKR receive a revised rear spoiler, new 20-inch five spoke rollers, and an Alcon-developed braking setup that was only available on the Portfolio Special Edition. On the inside, owners that opted to wait a year will now get a choice of wood or aluminum inserts, piano black instrument and shifter surrounds, a bit more chrome, alloy pedals and an optional 525-watt Bowers & Wilkins audio arrangement. Read more »

The first time we laid eyes on Ford’s new F-450, we knew that we wanted to run one through the ringer. Intended to satisfy those customers who find traditional “one ton” dually trucks to be a bit too limiting, this massive vehicle pegged our more-is-better meter. The F-450 is, so big as to make the title of this post a complete misnomer, as it takes something more like a barn to house this much truck. Read more »

Communism might not officially admit a God, but Russians apparently believe Satan is alive and well, and that he might drive a Dodge Viper. It all started when the owner of a Viper was given license plates that contained the 3-digit calling card of a certain deity you don’t want to know.

That person then decided to park his car somewhere in Kostroma, Russia. With that kind of provocation, what choice did the townfolk have? Taking no chances with the sanctity of their souls and perhaps making too much of the serpent-Viper connection, the good residents of the town purified the Viper in the fire.

Which is another way of saying they torched that bad boy. Putting aside the question of why the license bureau would issue such plates in the first place, does anyone think Mephistopheles would actually drive a Dodge? Or did someone just watch The Car once too often?

[Source: English Russia via Jalopnik]

So far, General Motors has been taking a measured approach with crossover vehicles. The General has recently rolled out the seven-to-eight-seat Lambda-based Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave to join its smaller Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent and Saturn VUE. Now we’re hearing from the folks over at Motor Authority that an even smaller CUV based off of the Opel Corsa could soon be sold at your local Chevy dealer.European Opels are currently being brought into the US as re-badged and good-looking Saturns, but Chevy’s status as the General’s volume brand may garner it some of the styling and handling benefits of GM’s Euro marque.

GM already unveiled the T2X concept in Korea, showing that it has the design resources to make good-looking small CUVs, and some of those styling cues are destined to be used on an Opel Corsa-based CUV, reports Motor Authority. The cute ‘ute is rumored to hit our shores as a 2010 model wearing a Bow Tie badge instead of the Saturn stamp. The Chevy version of this small crossover will undoubtedly receive different powertrains than what’s offered overseas, and we’d imagine that a mild hybrid mated to a fuel-efficient four-cylinder would result in above average gas mileage.

[Source: Motor Authority]

The Detroit News got its hands on a transcript of a Q&A session held between Chrysler execs and employees of the company in which management admits the company misjudged the market when developing vehicles like the new Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro. The transcript was confirmed to be legitimate by Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau, who admitted it was never meant for the public to see. Nevertheless, the Q&A session shows that that there are many at Chrysler who are “quite upset” about how some vehicles turned out, which is illustrated most pointedly by the harsh criticism the Sebring and Nitro received from Consumer Reports.

In response, Chrysler says it is moving fast to fix its own internal development process so that it can better project what customers want and expect from their vehicles a few years down the road. It seems the current system is good at matching what competitors are offering now, but produces vehicles that arrive on the market behind the curve in terms of design, quality and interiors.

We’ve certainly panned the Sebring for its design, both exterior and interior, as well as its uncompetitive engine lineup, and we’ve read the comments slamming the Nitro that Dodge has provided for our Sweepstakes, which, by the way, you can click here to enter (hey, it’s free!). We’re perplexed as to how the Jeep Compass and Dodge Avenger were never mentioned in this litany of Chrysler misses, though one also has to recognize the company’s current successes, including the new Jeep Wrangler that’s selling like crazy right now.It’s unfortunate for Chrysler that the company couldn’t have addressed all these problems quickly and quietly, as the leaked transcript will surely not help the rate at which Chrysler dealers are moving these vehicles of their lots.

[Source: The Detroit News]