Super Bowl commercials: GM back; Hyundai goes sheepish

General Motors, out of the line-up for two years, will be back with five commercials Sunday in Super Bowl XLV. But it will be far from alone, with at least eight other carmakers, Audi to Hyundai, BMW to Kia, buying air time for television’s biggest one-day attraction. Commercials is this year’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will cost about $3 million for 30 seconds. Ford Motor Co. will notably absent among major automakers. The commercials will be diverse. Beyond GM’s five offerings, a Kia ad will an alien driving a Kia; Volkswagen features an animated Beetle

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GM announces test drive program for Chevy Volt

Car buyers, increasingly interested “green cars” like Chevy Volt, will soon be able to test drive the electric-hybrid in Chevrolet dealerships in the initial launch markets of California, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C., According to General Motors, the markets will receive 550 dedicated Volt demonstration vehicles in nine 10 markets. “We know the best way to experience the Volt is to get behind the wheel and drive it. Now dealers will have the ability to allow consumers to form their own opinions of the Volt through test drives and demonstrations,” said Cristi Landy,

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Pontiac GTO 1964-1974, car review

The legendary 1964 Pontiac GTO kicked off the wild 1960s muscle car market with a roar and made Detroit the world center for affordable high-performance cars. It can be argued that cars such as the light 1949 Oldsmobile with its new “Rocket V-8” or the 1955 Chrysler 300 Hemi V-8–first mass-produced 300-horsepower car — were the first American muscle cars. Those autos were among cars such as the 1956 Plymouth Fury and 1961 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport with its mighty 409-cubic-inch V-8 that generated considerable interest in high performance models. But the 1964 GTO is generally regarded as the first

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Ford Focus, 2012 car review

The new, redesigned compact Ford Focus is a sleek, mildly Americanized version of Ford’s European Focus. Developed and tuned in Germany, it’s a big improvement over its dated predecessor. The new, tightly assembled Focus is a very early 2012 model that will be sold in many worldwide markets. It comes as a versatile sedan or hatchback. The “hatch” has the same 104.3-inch wheelbase as the sedan, but is 6.9 inches shorter. Both versions have wheels pulled to the far corners of the body for better ride and handling. Both versions provide decent cargo room. The rear seatbacks on most Focus

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Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, 1963-1967 car review

The stunning 1963-67 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray still turns heads. Just imagine how much attention it drew when introduced for 1963. Some Corvette lovers maintain this 1960s ‘Vettte is the best Corvette ever built, or the best one that ever will be built. Maybe they’re right. I found my 1965 365-horsepower Sting Ray convertible was more fun to drive than the far more sophisticated current Corvettes — it was more of a pure sports car. The first Corvette — a 1953 model — was nearly identical to a General Motors auto show “dream car,” as concept cars were called then.

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Shaun White behind the wheel in BFGoodrich webcasts

Shaun White, the two-time Winter Olympic gold medal winner and the most decorated athlete in Winter X Games history, has other sporting goals in mind — car racing. With the BFGoodrich Tires sponsorship, While will appear in the “Upgrade to BFGoodrich” campaign. Taught by BFGoodrich specialists and a group of professional drivers known as “TeamBFG,” White learns how to improve his driving performance in a series of webisodes. The URL: www.bfgoodrichtires.com/shaunwhite. Highlighted throughout the webisodes will be how drivers like White can upgrade their performance on BFGoodrich tires. Rally racing to road course technique will be featured. The first webisodes

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Ferrari set to debut FF 4×4 at Geneva Motor Show

Ferrari likes to outdo itself and it appears it may have with the FF. It’s the Italian manufacturer’s first four-wheel drive vehicle and its fastest four-seat car ever. With its designation as Ferrari‘s inaugural four-wheel drive car, the FF (an acronym for Ferrari Four) has a top speed of 208 mph. Its 6.2-liter V12 powertrain can propel the FF from 0 to 62 mph in 3.7 seconds. The new FF is expected to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review

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Chevrolet accelerates, Volt available nationally by fall 2011

The race for market shares of new buyers for hybrid and electric vehicles has intensified with the announcement Chevrolet has advanced its national rollout of the Volt. Chevrolet has been delivered Volts to customers in the Washington D.C. area, as well as California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas. Customer deliveries in Michigan begin this spring. Customers nationwide will be able to order Volts with participating dealers beginning in the second quarter.  Deliveries will begin in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in the third quarter. During the fourth quarter, Chevrolet

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Lexus IS350, 2011 car review

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The Lexus IS series was introduced in 1998 under the Toyota Altezza nameplate in Japan and in North America as the IS300 in 2000. Altezza mean “highness” in Japanese and the IS initials translate to Intelligent Sport. The IS models are designated as entry level luxury cars below the ES in the Lexus lineup. Since its debut, now 11 years ago, many varieties have joined the IS offerings The IS350 receives exterior and interior restyling for 2011 and offers several new options, including all-wheel drive and the “F Sport” package. The Weekly Driver Test Drive Beyond its bright blue (Ultrasonic

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Super Bowl XLV: Cars.com's racy, talking cars commercials

Unlike during previous years, when Super Bowl commercials were only revealed the during the telecast, several companies, including Audi, Hyundai, Kia and Cars.com have unveiled their commercials as Super Bowl XLV approaches. Cars.com has introduced its two 30-second commercials, including a clever exchange among talking cars who use some racy, quick dialogue. Eight car manufacturers and several additional auto-related companies will advertise during this year’s Super Bowl, Feb. 6 in Arlington, Texas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRYLhkOV2so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEGwvPj4Lw James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004. In

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Toyota recall of Lexus models pushes carmaker's total to more than 10 million in 18 months

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced another large global recall for myriad problems in the fuel systems of several Lexus models with the latest issue increasing the Japanese manufacturer’s recalls to more than 10 million vehicles in the past 18 months. Toyota said it will recall about 245,000 cars in the United States from its Lexus line to inspect a fuel pressure sensor. The vehicles include the 2006 through 2007 Lexus GS300/350, the 2006 through early 2009 Lexus IS250, and the 2006 through early 2008 Lexus IS350. The automaker also said it will also recall about 1.3 million vehicles not sold

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President Obama: '1 million electric vehicles by 2015'

It’s no secret alternative fuel cars and electric cars will infiltrate the automotive industry as last evidenced by the attention several new green car models offered by Honda to Toyota and Volkswagen to Ferrari received at the Detroit auto show. But in case there’s any doubt on the major emphasis ahead for carmakers, here’s the short, relevant text from the State of the Union address from President Barack Obama on future car technology: “At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using

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Oscar nominations: Best performances by actors with cars: Steve McQueen, Bullitt; Gene Hackman, The French Connection

With nominations for the Academy Awards just announced, what better time to discuss perhaps the best component film that doesn’t directly get nominated for awards — Best Performance By An Actor With Car. Indirectly, of course, great acting, editing, directing, music, special effects, etc., have all helped create many of the best car scenes on film. Too many movies have too many great car scenes to list. But two great action car scenes involving iconic actors top the list. James Bond movies, for example, feature great footage with Aston Martin. And Batman films throughout the years have featured iconic technology

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Ferrari 288 GTO 1984-1985 car review

Casual observers might mistake the 1984-85 Ferrari 288 GTO for the 1975-89 Ferrari 308/328 that became nationally known in the popular 1980-88 “Magnum P.I.” television series. However, there’s a world of difference between the ferocious 288 GTO and nice-but-slower 1975-85 308 and near-identical 1986-89 328. The 288 GTO was simply the world’s fastest production car when it arrived. And no wonder. The mid-engine 288 GTO was built for the FISA’s new Group B race series, in which cars such as the super exotic, limited-production Porsche 959 and Jaguar XJ220 were qualified to compete. Cars weren’t eligible to race in the

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Chevy Camaro gets familiar role as 2011 Indy 500 pace car

Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500 aren’t quite synonymous, but they could be considering the long relationship with between the race and the brand. A prime example will occur Sunday, May 29 when a special edition of the Chevy Camaro convertible will serve as the official pace car of the 2011 Indy 500. The special edition and its 50 pace-car replicas will help commemorate the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 and Chevrolet’s centennial year. The pace car and replicas are painted white with orange stripes and door graphics. The interior is trimmed in orange leather and the front- seat headrests

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Qatar Motor Show debuts with Bentley to Bertone concepts

Like any good auto show, the inaugural Qatar Motor Show, beginning January 26, will have its share of concept cars. The offerings will be presented by established manufacturers like Volkswagen and its futuristic-looking XL1 diesel-electric. But there will will also be concepts from unique carmakers like Autostudi, Bertone and Castagna. One stunning concept will be the Bentley Continental Flying Star offered by Touring Supperleggera, in conjunction with Bentley and manufactured in Milan. The limited edition supercar is custom built by the same group that created the Ferrari 166 and the Aston Martin DB 4/5. Two of the rare Bentley models

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