Ferrari had become a well known racing team and producer of sports cars for the public,

Download 1968 Ferrari 330 GTC

What does it take to transform a beautiful piece of intricately designed machinery into a pile of trashy and tacky dog poop?

Download 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder by Job Design

Although the Mazda RX-8 has passed on and will be replaced in the near future, we still find it to be one of the most interesting vehicles on the road. Sure, it might not be the best to drive, as it takes a whole new approach to get it to go fast, but it looks great and it’s pretty fast as the higher rev range.

Mazda may be killing off the RX-8 due to the motor not meeting the new emissions regulations and the fact that it hasn’t really sold the way the company had hoped, but it’s not gone yet. And Mazda is ensuring that the RX-8 will be remembered as it has presented everyone at SEMA with the RX-8 Grand-Am GT. This version of the Mazda RX-8 has just completed its 2010 racing season and did extremely well, walking away with six out of the 12 races.

Download 2010 Mazda RX-8 Grand-Am GT

Ford Australia had an embarrassing problem with its high-performance six-cylinder Falcon sedan: The Ford Performance Vehicles F6 was, er, faster than its V-8-powered counterpart, the FPV GT. The F6's 4.0-liter straight-six might have had the same bore-center spacing as the straight-six fitted to the first Australian-built Falcon a half century ago, but like Grandpa's axe, everything else had been replaced or renewed over the years. With its twin-cam, four-valve cylinder head and Garrett GT3540 turbocharger, the F6's all-Aussie six delivered 415 horsepower and 416 pound-feet of torque. The U.S.-built 5.4-liter V-8 that powered the GT boasted just 7 more horses -- and 10 pound-feet less torque. As a result, the GT was a second slower over the quarter mile and, because it weighed more, less fun in the twisties.


Download First Drive: 2011 Ford Falcon FPV Boss 335 GT

Acura's much-maligned TL has been reinvigorated. With fresh styling and a new six-speed automatic transmission, the refreshed 2012 Acura TL may no longer be the odds-on favorite to make fun of from a design perspective.

Download First Look: 2012 Acura TL

I recently had the pleasure of batting and booting the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG with the uncorked Performance Package option around the Hudson River Valley in Upstate New York. The twin-turbo, direct-injected 5.5-liter V-8 brawler of a motor serves up a spine-compressing 563 horsepower and an astonishing 664 pound-feet of torque. The car is so powerful it's silly.

Download First Test: 2011 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

The "Toyobaru" is now a Scion. It's a decision that makes sense for the U.S. market, as Toyota needs to increase enthusiasm and interest in its youth-oriented brand, which has recently flattened out in both sales and product excitement. With the purest enthusiast credentials of any Scion -- production or concept -- to date, the Scion FR-S looks like the just the ticket to help re-ignite enthusiast passion for the brand.

Download Scion FR-S Concept

While Jaguar toils away at designing a new and "proper" C-segment car to replace the unlamented X-Type (it's three to four years away), the XF ranks as the volume model. As such, the company has been clucking and fussing over it almost constantly since its 2008 launch. For 2012, the interior and exterior get a good going-over. Exterior enhancements were predicted by the CXF concept that appeared just prior to the production launch, and they leverage technology that now makes some of that concept's styling cues production feasible. Examples include the LED daytime running lamp treatment (which has come to be expected on cars in the class), and the "Tron"-look light-blade taillamp illumination that now extends onto the decklid.

Download First Drive: 2012 Jaguar XF

Following the debut of the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, it didn't take long before the questions and the rumors started flying: Will Jeep bring back the Cherokee SRT8? Chrysler's Street and Race Technology team remained quiet through all the speculation and waited until the 2011 New York auto show to deliver its answer in the form of its latest uber-Jeep, the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

Download 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

Blu-ray DVDs. Plasma flat-screen displays. Michael Jackson's face.

Like most of the world, we at Inside Line feel that technology, in and of itself, is neither good nor evil. Instead, we must look to the application of said technology to discern where it lands on the benevolence-malevolence spectrum. The technological pedigree of BMW's 2006 M6 is as vast and impressive as any vehicle currently on the market. And after a thorough road test, we have a solid understanding of where the M6 offers cutting-edge driving dynamics — and where it feels like a rhinoplasty gone bad.

Download Full Test: 2006 BMW M6

Both drivers and fans alike find Formula One and DTM races particularly entertaining when it’s wet. Ralf and Michael Schumacher tell Mercedes-GP about the challenges and peculiarities of wet weather racing.

Download Mercedes Drivers Ralf and Michael Schumacher Give Inside Look at Wet Racing

AMG Boss Ola Källenius commented in a recent interview with the magazine Auto Motor & Sport, that the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster will be making its debut at the Frankfurt motor show next year.

Download Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster Set To Debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

For the new 2011 Mercedes-Benz VIANO Van that came out in the fall of 2010, the German Mercedes-Benz tuning specialist A.R.T. has put together a large number of interesting components in a new program. The complete VIANO Tuning Program is scheduled to become available beginning January 2011.

Download 2011 Mercedes-Benz Viano Tuner by A.R.T.

Fifty years ago, the original Mini was shown to the public for the first time, thus beginning the long history of a little car that continues to strike joy in the hearts of many to this day. To celebrate, Mini has built a chopped, two-seat super-Cooper called the Mini Coupe Concept for the Frankfurt auto show.


Download Mini Coupe Concept - Car News

Do-it-yourself kit takes just minutes to install and adds a little extra power to the zippy hot hatch

British tuner Superchips has a quick and cheap do-it-yourself kit for the Ford Fiesta Zetec S 1.6 that adds a little extra juice to the little hot hatch.

Download Superchips tunes the Ford Fiesta Zetec S

General Motors has pulled forward development of its GMT900, the wide range of high-profit full-size sport/utilities and pickup trucks, such as the Chevrolet Silverado caught here. Originally scheduled for the 2008 model year, the 900s and 925Cs (Cadillac Escalade, EXT, and ESV) will roll out beginning with the GMC Yukon at the Anaheim Auto Show in October, continuing at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show, and throughout much of the year. The sport/utilities will go on sale first. Is it folly to pull forward big, fuel-inefficient trucks to bring in cash flow, just as SUV sales seem to be waning due to gas prices and crossover competition?

Download 2007 Chevrolet Silverado