1967 Chevrolet C/20 3/4 Ton Truck on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Top Gear names BMW i8 Car of the Year, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes also win big

The lads at Top Gear have released their listing of the finest cars of the past year, handing the ultimate honor to BMW's revolutionary i8 plug-in-hybrid supercar. "The i8 is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers - and then some," the British mag wrote. The i8, though, was far from the only hybridized car to take victories. James May and Richard Hammond both highlighted hybrids as their personal cars of the year, with May saluting the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Hamster, unsurprisingly, heaping praise on the Porsche 918 Spyder. Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, opted to shock many by selecting not only an American car as his best of 2014, but giving the honor to of all things, a Corvette. Clarkson wasn't the only person to honor the USA's iconic sports car, with the new, 650-horsepower Z06 variant being named TG's Muscle Car of the Year. Other big winners include Mercedes-Benz, which TG honored for S-Class Coupe (Luxury Car of the Year), the new AMG GT (Sports Car of the Year) and the not-for-US C-Class Estate (Family Car of the Year). The 458 Italia Speciale A snagged a second win for Ferrari. The best of the rest include the Citroen C4 Cactus, Renault Twingo, Volkswagen Golf R, Lamborghini Huracan and Audi TT. Take a look below for the celebratory press blast from BMW. The BMW i8 wins Top Gear Car of the Year The BMW i8 has been named as Top Gear magazine's global Car of the Year 2014. The plug-in hybrid performance vehicle beat off some stiff competition from a host of other premium and luxury manufacturers to win the overall award. The editorial team of Top Gear commended the BMW i8 for its breadth of abilities. Its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor gives searing acceleration and driver enjoyment but all wrapped in a package that takes BMW's EfficientDynamics philosophy to the extreme courtesy of CO2 emissions less than 49g/km and a 135mpg combined cycle figure. Charlie Turner, Editor in Chief at Top Gear magazine, said: "The BMW is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers – and then some. It's the kind of car we should celebrate, a beautiful vision of the future, delivered now.

Chevy 'committed to marketing Bolt the right way'

The 2015 edition of the annual AltCar Expo in Santa Monica, CA in September was a relatively quiet affair. Attendance felt light compared to previous years. But that didn't mean there wasn't something happening that might have just as big an impact on the plug-in scene as anything that's ever happened in previous years at the Santa Monica Convention Center. I say this because of what GM's Shad Balch told me about Chevy's plans to market the upcoming Bolt electric car. This is GM's next-gen electric vehicle, which will have a roughly 200-mile range and may cost about $30,000 after tax incentives (maybe). To say he's excited to start selling this car is an understatement. Set aside the obvious challenge Chevy will have with cars named both the Volt and the Bolt, especially when some languages exchange the pronunciation of the letters B and V. Set aside the fact that, for now, Balch is dealing with his own company actively advertising against the product he's trying to get people excited about. Balch, GM's manager of new product and public policy communications, is tremendously positive about the Bolt's chances in the marketplace when it arrives in 2017 or 2018. "Driving an EV is, in every proof point, better than a gas-powered car, except for charging." - Shad Balch AltCar and the concurrent National Drive Electric Week represented the Bolt's West Coast debut, and Balch told me that the car's arrival in California shows how "Detroit recognized that they need to send it out to their number one market." The car's appearance outside of the Motor City was "The most encouraging part for us out here, being in the market ... to be able to explain that we are committed to marketing this car the right way. ... We're trying to make that known as much as possible, because that is the number one criticism that we hear. That's why events like these are so important, because we can't wrap up into a 30-second spot what these cars are capable of. I can't even explain it to you in 10 minutes what it's like. But the thing is, driving an EV is, in every proof point, better than a gas-powered car, except for charging." Now, there's a fairly decent chance that GM will hit the 250,000-vehicle limit for the $7,500 federal tax incentive right about when the Bolt comes to market, so I had to ask how the Bolt gets marketed if the price tag jumps up a few thousand dollars. Balch was straightforward. "Well, we would sell fewer cars," he said. "It's pure and simple. ...

Weekly Recap: Ford guns for 2016 Le Mans glory with new GT

On the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford confirmed it will return to the French endurance race in 2016 and campaign the new GT racecar 50 years after three GT40s swept the podium at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The factory will back a two-team, four-car effort that will compete in the World Endurance Championship and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship running cars operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The GT racecar will make its track debut in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the driver lineup will be announced later. "But rest assured, there's quite a line forming out the door," Ganassi said at the announcement. The GT is the modern successor to the iconic GT40, which won Le Mans four straight years from 1966-1969. The racecar is a rolling testbed of Ford's latest technologies, including a powerful twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. The car also makes extensive use of carbon-fiber pieces and advanced aerodynamics. Ford tapped Multimatic Motorsports of Canada and Roush Yates Engines to aid in the development of the GT racer. The road-going version, which was revealed in January at the Detroit Auto Show, is also set to launch next year. It caps Ford's growing performance lineup, and the company has ambitious plans to launch more than 12 new sporty models by 2020, including hot metal like the Focus RS, F-150 Raptor, and Shelby GT350R. The GT embodies Ford's best tech, but news of its return to Le Mans immediately conjured images of the company's fierce rivalry in the 1960s with Ferrari and intense competition with Porsche. "When the GT40 competed at Le Mans in the 1960s, Henry Ford II sought to prove Ford could beat endurance racing's most legendary manufacturers," Ford executive chairman Bill Ford said in a statement. "We are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row, and that same spirit that drove the innovation behind the first Ford GT still drives us today." Ford is going back to Le Mans. Somewhere, Hank the Deuce must be smiling. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW 7 Series arrives in the fall BMW revealed the sixth generation of its flagship 7 Series this week, which will start at $81,300 when it launches in the United States this fall. BMW is billing it as the roomiest 7 Series ever, and it measures 206.6 inches in length.