Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8
If any of you were stuck in traffic trying to get through the Detroit Windsor tunnel late last week, we may now know why. There was no major international incident or terrorist crackdown happening. Apparently, Chrysler Canada CEO Reid Bigland grabbed a fresh-off-the-line Dodge Challenger SRT8 and headed over to Detroit from his office in Windsor, Ontario. Agents of the Customs and Border Protection Service decided they wanted to check out Chrysler's new muscle car. Several agents spent time going over the new Challenger and asking questions about it rather than processing travelers through the downtown Detroit border crossing point. Traffic quickly got backed up and according to Bigland there was about an hour delay by the time the agents let him proceed. Oh, and they never even asked for Bigland's ID.
As if 1000 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 2.25 seconds and the huge rear wing didn't attract enough attention. It just had to be in Snake Skin Green. According to Hennessey, this is the first and only Venom Twin-Turbo in this color, and it's listed for sale on HennesseyPerformance.com. It comes with the 1200-horsepower upgrade option, VenomAero body kit, KW adjustable coilover suspension, Brembo brakes, lightweight wheels, and more. The car's new owner will also be able to make Bugatti Veyron owners green with envy as they see this Viper's taillights fading into the distance. Click away in the full-res gallery below.
BONUS: Video of said Venom Viper spinning out while racing a Porsche 911 added after the jump.
Click above for a high resolution gallery of the GT9
There are only a handful of cars that can strike fear into the Bugatti Veyron. The Koenigsegg CCX comes close with a top speed of 242.42 mph, and the SSC Aero Twin-Turbo is even faster, hitting a two-way average speed of 255.83 mph and officially taking the crown of world's fastest car back in September. These über-fast supercars will now be looking over their shoulders with the new kid on the block, the 9ff GT9. Based on the Porsche 911 GT3, 9ff stretches the chassis about a foot and chops the roofline for improved aerodynamics. A carbon-kevlar subframe houses a twin-turbo 4.2-liter flat-6 pushing out 987 bhp. Our German is a bit rough, but we can translate enough of Autobild's recent story on the 9ff GT9 to know they achieved ridiculous speeds in the super Porsche at the Papenburg high speed oval in Germany. 409 km/h to be exact, which roughly translates to 253 mph. We're not sure if there is more speed left in the GT9 to top the Bugatti or the SSC, but it's impressive nonetheless.
While parts sales don't typically show up in quarterly earnings reports, they can comprise a big chunk of profits. Ford is protecting its parts investment by filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington against eight companies that are reproducing Mustang parts without the Blue Oval's consent. Ford parts affected are the hood, bumper, fender, side-view mirror and tail lamp assemblies, which are all covered under Ford's 14-year design patent on design elements. Chicago-based LKQ Corp and its Keystone Automotive Industries are named in the complaint along with several companies in Taiwan. Ford has already come out victorious in a similar case involving some of the same suppliers and the F-150, and Keystone is currently appealing. With Ford already winning a similar case, and what we'd assume is a much larger legal budget than the defendants', the Blue Oval will likely come out on top in this ruling, as well.
When the Chevy Cobalt first hit the scene as a 2005 model, it was a much better car than the basic transportation it replaced, but it was still a bit too Cavalier-looking for some. All that is scheduled to change for the 2010 model year, as the bow-tie will unveil a new Cobalt based of the same global Delta platform that will also underpin the Volt and next Saturn Astra.
Brenda Priddy and her voyeur minions caught a well-disguised 2010 Cobalt roaming the streets, and while it looks like it was doused in silly-string, we can still see plenty of promise. Most noticeably, the 'Balt's profile looks much more refined than that of the current model, with a more graceful greenhouse and prominent nose. Thankfully, the handsome two-tier grill looks to be making its way over from the Malibu, which will help further separate the Cobalt from its economy car past. A sedan and coupe will be available, and we're assuming that we'll see a new, faster Cobalt SS, as well.
High gas prices already have the Cobalt selling in record numbers, and if GM can pull off a better Cobalt by next summer, the amount of them leaving dealer lots should grow considerably. Hit the read link below to see the spy shots. Thanks for the tip, noe!
There's a new MG TF on its way to replace the current TF, which is once again rolling out the doors at its Longbridge, UK ancestral home. The new TF will be available as a roadster, natch, and as a coupe, and based on the Roewe 550. AutoExpress has worked up some renderings based on insider information about the new rear-drive MG, and the car amounts to a smorgasbord of cues from a variety of unfortunately styled vehicles. There's a lot of X80 concept, a dash of the crosseyed Qvale Mangusta, and a peppering or two of the MG SV, too. The end result looks like something Noddy assembled in a candlelit workshop, but then again, so does the existing MG TF.
The underlying platform for the new TF is one of the last vestiges of MG Rover, and would have been used for the MG ZS/Rover 45 replacement. Ricardo also played a role in the development of the chassis, which will have a turbocharged 1.8-liter four and a 2.5-liter V6 as power options. Still, more coupes in the MX5's sandbox can't be a bad thing, so we wish the new MG TF well, and hope that it comes to the United States for a proper taunting.
While Jonathan's shots of the new 370Z were seductively cryptic, these newest images from Car do more to confuse than enlighten. Car was attending a presentation by Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura, and with their camera phone at the ready, snapped off a few shots of Infiniti's upcoming small sports car that looks more like Han Solo in carbonite than a swoopy coupe.
The Infiniti two-door is expected to debut sometime later this year in concept form, and is poised to take on the BMW 1-series in the compact coupe segment. The shape, even in the grainy pic, is decidedly different from anything else in its class, with a long hood and a cab-backward design that has plenty of potential.
Car also grabbed a shot of the Nissan 370Z, which appears to get some seriously styled wheel arches and a steeply raked windshield. But according to the Brit buff book's sources, the new Z will take several cues from the GT-R when it's unveiled later this year at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
It's hard to believe that it's been two decades since the Pontiac Fiero went away. The Fiero was a project that began with great promise and ultimately dissolved into the pre-Lutz era corporate politics that was General Motors in the late '80s. Early spy photos showed a hot looking little two-seat mid-engine sports car. Rumors early on had it powered by an aluminum block 2.9L turbo V6. Unfortunately, the prospect of a mid-engine Pontiac that would out run a contemporary Corvette did not sit well with the bow-tie boys. The result was the first production iterations of the Fiero being neutered to within an inch of their lives.
By the time Pontiac fixed what was wrong with the early models, its reputation was so bad that no one would touch it any more. Over time, surviving Fieros have undergone all manner of visual and mechanical transformations coming out looking like faux Lamborghinis and Ferraris. They have even been stuffed with heavily boosted small block V8s. The one missing project that we haven't seen is probably the one closest to the original vision for the car.
Take an original four-cylinder Fiero body. Add the upgraded suspension from the last '88 GTs. Then insert the 2.0L turbo direct-injected engine used in the Solstice GXP and other cars mated to a six speed gearbox. That engine is now available in front-wheel-drive form in the Chevy HHR SS, so it should be doable. A Fiero with 260 hp and 260 lb-ft peaking at 2,000 rpm, what a deal! Any takers?
Click above for high-res gallery of ZR1 on the 'Ring spy shots
Corvette Chief Engineer (and Autoblog commenter) Tadge Juechter said last week that the new ZR1 "will be able to take the production-car track record at any racetrack" and should lap the famed Nurburgring race track in Germany in "seven minutes, twenty-something seconds." Considering Nissan just posted a new official lap time of 7:29 for the GT-R and that the GT-R V-Spec is reportedly clicking off laps in 7:25, them sounds like fightin' words. Well, the ZR1 is officially being flogged around the Ring as we speak, though no one has yet to report a lap time for this gorgeous red prototype that was spotted by KGP photographers. BridgetoGantry.com reports that yesterday there was a helicopter over the track "chasing something that sounded very V8 and awfully supercharged," so perhaps lap times will soon be forthcoming. We imagine the supercharged LS9 V8's 628 horsepower and the ZR1's 205-mph top speed will not disappoint.
We wade through an unhealthy amount of press releases each day, so even when something big hits – like the release of the Challenger SRT8 – we sometimes miss the occasional detail. Such is the case with Dodge's new pony car, which apparently comes equipped with an "SRT-exclusive Reconfigurable Display" (RCD). What does that mean? Well, you can customize the readout at the bottom of the SRT8's 180 mph speedo to display 0-60 acceleration times, 60-0 braking times, 1/4-mile times and g-forces to see if your numbers and Dodge's agree. According to the video after the jump, you can also log your best runs and see how you faired at a later (read: safer) time.
When the Chevy Cobalt first hit the scene as a 2005 model, it was a much better car than the basic transportation it replaced, but it was still a bit too Cavalier-looking for some. All that is scheduled to change for the 2010 model year, as the bow-tie will unveil a new Cobalt based of the same global 
It's hard to believe that it's been two decades since the Pontiac Fiero went away. The Fiero was a project that began with great promise and ultimately dissolved into the pre-Lutz era corporate politics that was General Motors in the late '80s. Early spy photos showed a hot looking little two-seat mid-engine sports car. Rumors early on had it powered by an aluminum block 2.9L turbo V6. Unfortunately, the prospect of a mid-engine Pontiac that would out run a contemporary Corvette did not sit well with the bow-tie boys. The result was the first production iterations of the Fiero being neutered to within an inch of their lives. 
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_thumbnail.jpg "Lamborghini Reventon unboxed in Las Vegas")
