475 Horses: Jaguar XKR GT3 Racing Car Makes Debut

image courtesy of Edmunds.com

Can't say as if I wouldn't want one of these to tear up and down the streets with.

BIRMINGHAM, England — If it sounds sacrilegious to put a big spoiler on the back of the Jaguar XKR, think again. Thanks to Apex Motorsport of the U.K., it looks like a natural on the luxury car.

The Jaguar XKR GT3 made its debut at the Autosport International Show here on Friday. Jaguar was quick to point out that this is not a factory motorsports program and that Apex race activities are independent of Jaguar. But it was clear that the British marque is wholeheartedly behind the idea.

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How Toyota became a juggernaut

Out of small beginnings.

Toyota cracked the Big 3 in U.S. auto sales in 2006, passing DaimlerChrysler and closing in on both Ford and General Motors.

But a half-century ago, America was still a gleam in the eye of a few optimistic Toyota executives in Japan. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. set up shop Oct. 31, 1957, in a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood.

Sales began in 1958. That year's total: 288 vehicles - 287 Toyopet Crowns and a Land Cruiser. Last year in the United States, the company surpassed 2.5 million sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion models. Toyota also built 1.6 million vehicles and 1.4 million engines in North America in 2006.

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Crowds flock to auto show

Just wanted to get something out there on the North American International Auto Show. This article has many links and great coverage on the site with tons of pics and plenty to read about what's under the hoods of these fantastic rides.

Velvet S. McNeil / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Slick roads and pinched pocketbooks didn’t keep auto aficionados away from the North American International Auto Show on Sunday, the second day the show was open to the public.

Car enthusiasts young and old ogled, photographed and handled automobiles displayed on the floor of Cobo Center. Some hunted for their next family car; many cruised the floor for their dream wheels.

“Nothing would have kept me away today,” said Keith Simmons, 47, who drove an hour from Toledo in the rain to attend. With camcorder in hand, he recorded his fantasy cars from all angles, like a sporty BMW and the Rolls-Royce Phantom convertible, a concept car with dramatic suicide doors.

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Vehicles of the future likely to be more plugged in

By John O'Dell, Los Angeles Times | January 14, 2007

The electric car, derided as impractical by automakers since General Motors Corp. pulled the plug on its revolutionary EV1, is staging a comeback in the United States amid lofty fuel prices and persistent worries about the nation's dependence on imported oil.

GM, the chief villain in the recent documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" had plans for a new family of electric vehicles as the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit began its four-day media preview last Sunday.
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