Sure, Ford has a whole slew of crossovers here in the United States, but what we don’t have is a Blue Oval-branded CUV based on rear-wheel drive architecture. For that, you’ll have to travel to Australia or New Zealand (or South Africa or Thailand, exported from Oz), where Ford offers the Territory.

Like all Territory models since its introduction in 2004, the 2011 model will be based on the Falcon that we’re dying for in the States. Fortunately, as we’ve seen in previous spy shots and renderings, the next-gen Territory will feature styling that continues to separate itself from the Taurus X-ish looks of the first-gen model, with a completely new front fascia featuring twin gaping maws with bright horizontal chrome strips.

Two powerplants are expected: the turbo-diesel 2.7-liter V6 that can currently be found in the Land Rover Discovery 3 (a.k.a. LR4) and the well-loved 4.0-liter inline six offered in the Falcon. Thanks for the tip, TriShield!

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Ford Territory spotted completely naked and production-ready originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vauxhall has beaten the speculating voices of the Internet to the Paris Motor Show punch by pulling the covers off of its GTC Concept well ahead of the main event. According to the company, what you see above is likely to have more than a little influence on the next Astra Sport Hatch. In classic concept style, the GTC rolls on epic 21-inch wheels that aren’t likely to find their way to the production version of the car any time soon. That’s not to say that this creation is pure fantasy, though.

For one thing, there’s a direct-injection, 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine snugged under the hood, complete with a functioning start/stop system and a six-speed manual gearbox. That choice of powerplant seems a little too realistic to just be a show-circuit folly, so our guess is that the Astra Sport Hatch will likely boast similar hardware when it hits the road to take on cars like the Volkswagen Scirocco. Hit the jump for the full press release and check out the gallery for a closer look. Vauxhall will show off the GTC Concept in Paris starting on September 30, and we’ll be on-hand to give you live shots and impressions of its reveal.

[Source: Vauxhall]

Continue reading Vauxhall GTC concept completely revealed ahead of Paris Motor Show debut

Vauxhall GTC concept completely revealed ahead of Paris Motor Show debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If we had a time machine, we’d set it for 1970 and never look back. And once we landed, bought some new threads and scored one of the amazing cars in production at the time, we’d road trip it to Sebring so we could see that year’s 12-hour enduro in person. Why? Because as good as modern sports car racing is, Sebring ’70 is special. From the cars and drivers (a who’s-who of legends including Mario Andretti, Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodriguez, Dan Gurney, Henri Pescarolo, and yes, Steve McQueen, who co-drove his Porsche 908 with Peter Revson despite having his broken left foot in a cast at the time), to the the overall atmosphere, Sebring, Florida on March 21, 1970 was very much the place to be.

Sadly, there’s no time machine to take us back there, but there was a brilliant race documentary made of the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring. Follow the jump to see the story play out in five parts. Unfortunately, the embedded YouTube clips don’t include the film’s seven-minute intro section. But that’s okay, because you can catch that part over at the State Library and Archives of Florida, which has the 22-minute movie posted in its entirety.

So, follow the jump and see the drama unfold as the Gulf-Porsche 917s battle the Ferrari 512S trio led by Andretti while McQueen and Revson try to pull off an unimaginable upset. Forty years after the checkered flag dropped, this is still an absurdly exciting and entertaining race to watch, even if you already know its storybook ending. Need a spotter’s guide before you hit play? No worries, just click here. Thank you, 1970, for being so incomprehensibly awesome.

[Source: State Library and Archives of Florida, YouTube]

Continue reading Video: The 1970 12 Hours of Sebring completely ruled

Video: The 1970 12 Hours of Sebring completely ruled originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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