The fiesty Ford Fiesta has been on sale in the GCC for a few years now. But it is so rare on the streets that few people around here even know that it exists. However, it is somewhat popular in Europe, and the 2009 all-new model is about to debut at the Geneva Auto Show soon.
So what does the “Five Hundred” stand for, especially since it’s in words rather than numbers? Does it have a 5.0-litre engine? Nope. 500 horses maybe? What. Celebrating 500 years as a company? Unlikely. About the only “500” we came across is that the 2008 model has more than 500 changes compared to the 2005-2007 version, which wasn’t sold here anyway. And it was still called the Five Hundred even before the 500 changes, although they did tack on the “500” number on many models decades ago. But Ford already calls the 2008 model a “Taurus”
Volkswagen is so desperate to make a buck in the United States that they simply facelifted the latest Chrysler Grand Voyager, upgraded the interior a bit, and renamed it the VW Routan. It is their attempt to cheaply add a conventional minivan to their range, cashing in on the blind faith that some people have on the VW badge.
The not-so-prominent 2008 Chicago Auto Show is on its way, and their main exhibit seems to be the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8, dubbed as a limited-edition 2008 model. Official specs and performance figures have finally been revealed.
The pickup version of the Hummer H3 has been revealed by General Motors. The new off-road truck, dubbed the Hummer H3T, features four doors and a proper truck bed long enough to fit a small motorbike apparently.
While Dodge only revealed teaser shots of their 2009 Challenger, some photos of the entire car have been leaked on the internet.
Bosses at General Motors figured that the camouflage on their upcoming Chevrolet Camaro was affecting their aerodynamics tests, so they decided to drive around their prototype without any black dressing any more. These photos, released by GM themselves, show the actual production-version exterior trim of the 2009 Camaro.
The 2008 Detroit Auto Show will showcase the second-generation high-performance Cadillac CTS-V. The 2009 CTS-V outdoes its chief competitor, the BMW M5, by utilising GM’s new LSA supercharged V8, derived from the LS9 in the new Corvette ZR1, but tuned for refinement obviously.
Being a slow month for anything related to cars, due to the long holidays, I went about reviewing my own 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 Limited. Having had it for only 3 months, this is my longest review ever, but it is important to fight back some of the negative commentary I received for buying it instead of just another anonymous Toyota or Nissan cramming the roads.
The new Corvette variant that was spotted over the last few years in testing has now been officially designated as the ZR1. Chevrolet has revived the ZR1 designation for the first time since the C4-based original faded away in 1995. And it is a monster.