Chevy announced today that they plan to debut the US production version of the Cruze sedan and Volt electric car at the Los Angeles Auto Show on December 2, 2009.

The Chevy Cruze is already available in many markets overseas, and is just coming here to the States, slightly modified. The Cruze is expected to get up to 40 mpg on the highway, surpassing the fuel economy of any other gas-only sedan currently on the market. The Cruze boasts more interior room than both a Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, along with plenty of standard options like navigation and Bluetooth.

The Chevy Cruze will be available in the third quarter of 2010. Available engines include small-displacement turbocharged powerplants that focus on fuel economy, including a 1.4-liter turbo engine.

The Chevy Volt, as I’m sure you’ve heard, is an electric-centric hybrid, meaning it runs on only electric power for the first 40 miles or so, then if more juice is needed for your commute, the gas engine kicks in to recharge the batteries. 40 miles, Chevy calculated, is a little more than the average work-and-back commute distance of most Americans, which will (in theory) allow Volt drivers to very rarely need to use the gas engine during normal driving. This way of running a hybrid is smarter than we’re used to, and Chevy says as a result the Volt will return the equivalent of 230 mpg around town. Not bad.

The Volt will be available in late 2010 only to selected markets (i.e. California,) and pricing has not yet been announced.

Here at Automoblog, we kind of have a soft spot for these little one off engineering specials. Every month or so, somebody with a garage and access to a big enough engine hits the news wires saying something like “Adventure MotorSports Builds Fastest Car In The Known Universe.”

And they are, usually, surprisingly, technically right. They’ve built a car that punches a small enough hole in the atmosphere, has a big enough mill in the engine bay and tall enough ratio’s in the gearbox, and it looks the car might actually be able to raise what ever the current terminal velocity is by a tenth or so.

So here comes Keating with their TKR Supercar across our transom and they’re saying it’ll do 260.1 … all right, let’s find out.

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Andy House, owner of Performance Auto Sales (specializing in repaired exotics, ironically) in Lufkin, Texas, was driving on Interstate 45 early last week when he crashed his 2006 Bugatti Veyron into a nearby lake. According to Mr. House, a pelican distracted him, making him drop his cell phone and lose control of the car.

Galveston Daily News reported:

The man, who refused to give his name, was looking at real estate in Galveston.
About 3 p.m. a low-flying pelican distracted him as he traveled north on Interstate 45 just south of the hurricane levee near Omega Bay.
The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the car’s front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to maneuver away from the lagoon.

Luckily, two dudes listening to Sublime caught it all on video, thinking they were watching a Lamborghini crash into the water. Check out the video: Continue Reading…

Pickup trucks have become an interesting anomaly in the automotive world. These vehicles, with a cab for people and a bed used for hauling or towing, they were originally built to do manual labor. No frills, no fun. Just the ability to start on a cold morning and work all day on the farm or construction site without issue.

Today though, things are radically different. Sure, trucks these days still promise to fulfill everything expected of them, but they are now much more civilized and comfortable, offering many luxuries found on more expensive cars.

But do the fundamentals still work? Are these two four-wheel-drive behemoths, the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4TRX and 2010 Toyota Tundra Double Cab, capable of working hard all day, then take the family out to dinner in the evening in comfort? I got to spent some time finding out. Continue Reading…

Today only, Amazon.com is offering Need for Speed: Shift for only $40 for either PS3 or Xbox 360.

If you’ve seen our Need for Shift Shift Preview, you’ll see how good this game is. I’m playing it right now so look for a review very soon.

Get Need for Speed: Shift for only $40 for Xbox 360 or PS3.

If you ask me, Alfa can’t get back into the North American market quick enough. Why? Well check out this car here. This would be a Prodrive modified version of Alfa Romeo’s stunning Brera S 3.2 that has the added benefit of an Autodelta Supercharger.

So, with Fiat (Alfa’s parent company) still working on which models to bring in, I vote for this one.

Prodrive’s Limited Edition Alfa Romeo Brera S 3.2 is making its world debut at this weekend’s MPH09 Motor Show in London. The souped up Brera is based on the UK market Brera S and seems to be as stunning on the road as ti is to the eyes. A new project between Prodrive and Alfa Romeo UK, the Brera S 3.2 is a limited edition and highlights a bunch of upgrades the most noticable being a weight loss of 220 pounds, thanks to the ditching of the standard Brera V6’s Q4 all-wheel drive system and going with a front-wheel drive and a sportier suspension.

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