This Land Cruiser comes from the factory with not only the ability to ford deep water, but the intent, as well.

There are many reasons to love Australia. Beautiful beaches, fantastic surfing, miles of unspoiled countryside and balmy winters all do much to stoke our appreciation of the country. We can now add the bare-bones Toyota Land Cruiser GX to that list. Toyota says that it created this particular vehicle for those customers who “tend to abuse, not just drive” their vehicles. That certainly sounds like our kind of people.

The Land Cruiser GX features vinyl floor mats, vertically-hinged rear barn doors, 17-inch steel wheels and, best of all, a snorkel. Yes, this Land Cruiser comes from the factory with not only the ability to ford deep water, but the intent, as well.

In addition to the aquatic equipment, the Land Cruiser GX is packed with an auxiliary fuel tank for traversing the open wastes, plenty of under-body protection and an honest-to-goodness metal key. A 4.5-liter twin-turbo V8 diesel engine sits at the heart of this beast of burden coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission with full-time four-wheel drive courtesy of a Torsen differential. We’re in love. Follow the jump for the full press release.

Continue reading Toyota releases extra tough Land Cruiser GX for Australia

Toyota releases extra tough Land Cruiser GX for Australia originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are plenty of things to admire about a company like Aston Martin, and not the least of them is that it loves racing as much as it loves making sports cars.

Take its latest product, for example. After its debut at the Villa d’Este concours, Aston announced that it would take the V12 Zagato for a short race at the Nürburgring and then a full 24-hour assault later this month. The first one already took place, and the second one hasn’t rolled around yet, but Aston has already found time to fit in an extra race in between.

After the solitary entry failed to finish the last round of the VLN series it contested at the ‘Ring, Aston will now field two entries at this weekend’s race. One team will be headed by the company’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, the other by Chris Porritt (the chief engineer on the One-77 project, along with Evo magazine’s Richard Meaden).

The race will take place over four hours from noon local time on Saturday, which you can follow on the company’s Twitter feed. But for a closer look right now, you can check out the gallery of images of the V12 Zagato from its previous encounter with the Green Hell, along with the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Aston Martin squeezes in an extra race for the V12 Zagato at the Nürburgring

Aston Martin squeezes in an extra race for the V12 Zagato at the Nürburgring originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How many Minis is too many? Mini’s about to find out as its product portfolio expands faster than a jilted lover’s waistline. The hatchback that (re)started it all and the cabrio that followed shortly thereafter have since been joined by the Clubman wagon and the Countryman crossover, with WRC and Dakar rally versions, speedsters and coupes and more in the production pipeline. But that doesn’t even take into account some of the concept derivatives that haven’t (yet) made it to production, and this is the latest.

Called the Paceman, it’s essentially a Countryman minus a couple of doors. It’s set to be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January as a concept car, but could very well make it to production as well. Taking a page out of its parent company’s BMW‘s playbook, Mini calls the Paceman a “Sports Activity Coupe” (sort of like the BMW X6) and insists it’s the first of its kind in the small premium segment. A “first” is pretty easy to achieve when you define the category yourself, but to our eyes the Paceman, with its sloping white roof, looks set to take on the likes of the three-door Range Rover Evoque, only smaller.

Under the hood, Mini’s fitted the JCW turbo four with 211 horsepower, mated to the same ALL4 all-wheel drive system used in the Countryman. More details are available in the press release after the jump, along with the initial images in the gallery below. We’ll be on hand at Cobo Hall to bring you live impressions from NAIAS, so stay tuned.

[Source: Mini]

Continue reading Detroit Preview: Mini Paceman concept relieves Countryman of extra doors

Detroit Preview: Mini Paceman concept relieves Countryman of extra doors originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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