There's an odd bit of historical deja vu at work here. Back in the late '60s and early '70s, General Motors wanted to shift a few sporty-ish four-cylinder models from its Opel division into America, so they turned to their Buick dealers. This didn't work out exactly as planned – merchandising these odd European ducks in an outlet best known for sober doctor's cars meant that the GT, Manta and Kadett never managed to make much of a dent in North America's automotive landscape. This time out, with the Opel Insignia-derived 2011 Buick Regal, GM knows it needs massively better results.

While attending an early drive event for the new Regal last week, we reminded vice-chairman Bob Lutz about the last time his company attempted to sell Opels in Buick showrooms. He laughed his trademark raspy laugh, and reminded us that Car and Driver so loathed the 1968 Kadett that their review featured it photographed in a junkyard. With characteristic candor, Lutz tells us, "It actually wasn't a very good car." Of course, Maximum Bob knows full well that GM can't afford another lost in space Kadett. Does the Regal have what it takes to mollify these "sins of the father" and put Buick on the right track? Click through to the jump to find out.



Photos copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.

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In an interesting bid to foil exotic car speculators who drive up the prices of limited-availability models, Lexus will reportedly lease – not sell – its forthcoming LFA supercar when it hits the market in January of 2011. As Automotive News reports, Lexus will only offer two-year leases of its 552-horsepower supercar at a fixed price (which has not yet been disclosed). At the conclusion of the two year period, leaseholders will get the opportunity to purchase the vehicle outright, at which point the title would be handed over. As Lexus' vice president of sales and dealer development Brian Smith tells it, his company wants "people out driving the car and not just parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price."

As part of the gearing-up process to sell this markedly different kind of vehicle, Lexus will also reportedly train 15 LFA specialists that will be located at the company's four regional outposts, and the Japanese automaker will also pay for dealers to receive the special tools and training that will service the vehicles.

Despite being a lease, all cars will still be individually tailored to the customer and built-to-order beginning in December of 2010.

This is certainly an interesting and potentially very clever end-around on the speculator's market. If it works, look for other exotic car companies like Ferrari and Lamborghini to follow suit.



Photos copyright ©2009 Damon Lavrinc / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Automotive News]

Trivia Time: When was the last time a U.S. market Buick was available with a manual transmission? Honestly, we can't recall anything more recent than a buddy in high school having a hand-me-down mid-Eighties Somerset coupe with a stubby, workmanlike five-speed. Even back then its presence in our friend's hooptie was a genuine curiosity and a source of perpetual amusement.

Naturally, we posed this same question to a few Buick PR-types this morning at a first drive event upon learning from vehicle line executive Jim Federico that the reborn 2011 Regal will receive a six-speed manual transmission option (mated to a blown 2.0-liter four, no less). The answer? Shoulder shrugs and sheepish looks. Curiously, nobody even tried to answer our query with a red herring like the ill-fated Reatta coupe (it only came with a four-speed automatic).

So we now know when a Buick will next feature God's Own Gearbox (probably in the third quarter of 2010), but we still can't crack this historical chestnut – so we beseech thee, Autoblog Nation... what year was the last Buick built with a DIY transmission – and what car was it in? Hit us with your best shot in Comments.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

No, you're not looking at yet another voting map, or even a topographical depiction of the WalMarting of America (trust us, you don't want to see that). The image seen above is that of Mahindra's "dealership network." We're putting quotes on that because the Indian automaker says on its website that the dots represent only "potential" outlets for their forthcoming small diesel pickup trucks.

Even if the map hasn't been finalized (and doesn't have an associated time frame for each franchise coming on-line), the map is interesting because it illustrates widespread interest in the brand. Credit for that in part should go to the promise of a robust, cheap, and fuel-efficient small truck from a major global player – but it should be equally predictable because there are lots of showrooms sitting empty (or on their way to doing so) thanks to the downsizing of dealer networks associated with General Motors, Chrysler and other automakers.

We could have predicted widespread traction for the brand in regions like the Midwest and even the Northeast, but the concentration of likely franchises in Florida surprises us. Either way, we'll have to wait a bit longer to see just who finally ends up selling the automaker's TR20 and TR40 models – they are expected to go on sale in the first quarter of next year. Hat tip to Sunny B!



[Source: Mahindra]

Back when we were but wee little Autobloggers, Easter was one of our favorite holidays. Not that we were religious, mind, we just really dug finding baskets filled with sugary treats nestled in plastic grass first thing in the morning. As far as we were concerned, you could keep your colored eggs, your jellybeans, your Cadbury creme eggs – heck, we weren't even that excited about those supernaturally yellow marshmallow Peep things – we wanted the Big Daddy – the solid chocolate bunny.

You can imagine our horror, then, when at some point in our childhood, our long-eared cacao friend went on a diet, although we didn't know it right off. Oh, he looked about the same – and he even sported the same jaunty tinfoil jacket. But he weighed much less – he was – *shudder* – hollow. Empty inside like our little crestfallen Easter morning spirits.

Thankfully, these many years later, Porsche Centrum Gelderland appears to be going some way towards healing our childhood wounds and restoring our faith in humanity. Well, if not humanity, at least in the validity of hollow chocolate treats. You see, the Dutch Porsche dealership has apparently taken a brand-new 911 Carrera S and as a sort of marketing stunt, they've gone and covered it in chocolate. According to AB tipster Patrick, in the absence of a giant dipping mechanism, they've used 175 kilos of molten goodness (that's about 385 pounds) to conceal Stuttgart's finest, reserving another couple kilos of white chocolate for detailing like the headlamps.

Why on earth did they decide to do this? It's apparently for a Dutch holiday centered around "Sinterklaas" – Saint Nicholas – who was the Danish inspiration for Santa Claus. As the story goes, the holiday is held in The Netherlands on the evening of December 5, and one of the holiday's most storied traditions is that people buy or make chocolate letters in celebration – hence the milky goodness that is Centrum Gelderland's Choco997.

The dipped Porsche will remain on display until Christmas, at which time we fully expect to see it wheeled into a walk-in freezer until it can to be thawed in time to make an appearance in our Easter basket next Spring. Thanks for the tip, Patrick!



[Sources: Automobiel Management; Autotelegraaf.nl]

According to The Detroit News, General Motors has gone on record as suggesting that without state tax credits designed to keep 2,500 employees ensconced at its Detroit Renaissance Center headquarters, the automaker could pull out of Motown's skyline and into the suburbs and surrounding areas.

As the story goes, transcripts from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. say that the Michigan Economic Growth Authority needs to amend a slate of already-approved tax credits to include the Renaissance Center. The requested amendment reportedly includes a provision that GM would need to keep at least 2,500 employees working at the RenCen with a total payroll of $60 million in order to qualify for the incentives.

If GM does not receive the tax breaks, it could disburse the approximately 1,500 additional workers at its headquarters to other offices in the metro Detroit area.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

In a surprise move, Ford has announced that it will pursue the development of an all-new Police Interceptor model. The move comes on the heels of General Motors' announcement that it plans to challenge the Crown Victoria's law enforcement dominance with its own heavy-duty Chevrolet Caprice sedan.

Details are slim, but Ford says the forthcoming PI will arrive in 2011 and it will sport durability, safety, and performance parameters that are superior to that of the Jurassic Panther-platform Crown Vic. Given the relatively tight timeframe and durability targets, we have to assume that the replacement cop car could be based on the rear-drive Australian-market Ford Falcon shown above. The Blue Oval promises that the car will be engineered and built in America, so it could also be an Ecoboost version of the Ford Taurus (as seen in the SHO), but front-drive cars have had trouble meeting the durability and cost requirements of police duty in the past, making this something of an open question. In an official release posted after the jump, Ford says it will disclose full vehicle specs in the first quarter of 2010, which should give enough time for both law enforcement and police vehicle equipment manufacturers to prepare for the changeover.

Ford says it presently shifts about 45,000 of the 60,000 police cars sold in the States each year, so it makes sense that Dearborn would not be willing to cede this market to Chevy's Caprice and the already established Dodge Charger.

[Source: Ford]

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After much hemming and hawing, General Motors will reportedly build a version of the Cadillac Converj, the gorgeous but awkwardly named extended-range coupe concept first shown at last year's Detroit Auto Show. According to The Detroit News, the Converj will probably take a few years to reach dealer showrooms, as GM will first direct its efforts on launching the Chevrolet Volt, the more affordable sedan with which it is likely to share much of its Voltec drivetrain architecture.

From where we sit, the Converj seems like a natural move for GM, as Cadillac's higher margins should help offset the research, development, and production costs of everything from the Volt's lithium ion batteries to its motors and control modules. For its part, however, Cadillac is still declining to comment on the story, and the DetNews story doesn't name a source.

Either way, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has previously gone on record as a champion of a production Converj, and he has said that a serial version would look very similar to the 2009 showcar – in much the same way that the Camaro evolved from concept to production. As the concept was gorgeous, we're down with that – we only hope it doesn't take as long to build as the Bowtie's broad-shouldered muscle car.




[Source: The Detroit News]

On one hand, it may seem like an odd time for Mercedes to be jumping back into the ultra-premium end of the car market, particularly in light of its recent less-than-standouts efforts (think: McLaren SLR and the salesproof Maybach). But this isn't the case with the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. In fact, this isn't really a Gottlieb and Karl joint at all – at least not by any traditional definition.

The SLS is actually an Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach project. Huh? It's AMG's first bumper-to-bumper, start-to-finish project – and having just torn around the California countryside and hot-lapped around Laguna Seca, we're left wondering only one thing: Why did it take more than 40 years for this to happen? Well, perhaps we should cut Mercedes some slack, as it has only owned the high-performance arm since 1999, so perhaps the appropriate thing is to look at the SLS' 2009 rollout as something of a tenth anniversary present to itself. In that light, the folks from Stuttgart know how to throw one hell of a party.



Photos copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.

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We knew that BMW's pivotal 5 Series was slated for replacement soon, and we've seen plenty of spy shots to prove that it's in the cards. Up until just now, however, we didn't know when it would appear.

In a brief press release available after the jump, BMW promises that its new 5 Series will be revealed with a "Live-Stream of the unveiling ceremony" on November 23 at 8pm CET. In the meantime, the automaker has released a teaser video of an amazing kinetic sculpture at the BMW Museum that gives away the car's outline. You can check it out after the jump.

[Source: BMW]

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