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The folks behind Generation Gap have lost their minds with this latest video. The goal here is to determine the ultimate family cruiser, but the choices are what you would least expect, with a heavily modded 1970 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser going up against a 2012 Ferrari FF.

You might anticipate an over-40-year-old Oldsmobile to pale in comparison to any modern Ferrari, but this wagon has a ton of secrets under its skin thanks to Lingenfelter. First, it packs a supercharged LS3 V8 with a claimed 650 horsepower and a six-speed manual gearbox. That big upgrade in power is further helped with air suspension and massive Wilwood disc brakes. The result is nothing short of deafening, with blaring yelps whenever the driver even nudges the accelerator.

The alternative sounds just as good, albeit in very different way. The Ferrari's 6.3-liter V12 pumps out 651 hp and 504 pound-feet with a part-time all-wheel drive system. While the FF lacks a lot of the hauling ability of the Olds, it makes up for the deficit in handling, luxury, and in many eyes, simply by having the famous prancing horse on the grille.

Watch the video to see the thundering Olds taking on the family-friendly Ferrari. One thing's for sure; the kid who gets to ride in the back of either car is one lucky youngster.

We get schooled at at Lamborghini Accademia

Lamborghini recently invited us to try out its Accademia performance driving program at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, one of our favorite tracks anywhere. Driving a Huracán or an Aventador is always entertaining, but next-level instruction and evaluation really separates Accademia from some of its rivals.






This Or That: $30K Off-Road Challenge

Our popular This Or That Series has moved on to our writers' favorite $30,000 off-road rigs, and Jeremy Korzeniewski and Brandon Turkus have come up with a couple of real zingers from 1987: a Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro and a Land Rover Defender. Which would you rather have? Read along and find out who picked what vehicle, and why.




Ford reveals all-new overseas Everest SUV

While here in America the vast majority of utility vehicles have moved to car-based crossover platforms, globally there's still a healthy market for body-on-frame SUVs. Bruisers like this handsome new Ford Everest, which will be sold in Asia-Pacific markets. Judging by our reader poll, Autoblog readers think the model would succeed in North America, too.




Top Stories

• Volkswagen Golf named Motor Trend Car of the Year
• Amidst protests, GM's Mary Barra steps back from award ceremony
• BMW says SUVs killed the sports car market

Japan has given the world so much to enthuse over. We're not sure the Toyota Aygo is necessarily one of them as much as, say, the Scion FR-S or Lexus LFA (especially since it's actually made in Europe), but for many Nipponophiles, the centuries-old artistic discipline of Manga certainly is. And now the two have come together in this two-and-a-half-minute animated short.

In Toyota's own take on the classic narrative, an Aygo animated by celebrated artist Sonia Leong takes on Godzilla. As in, a giant lizard rampaging through a Japanese city, not the Nissan GT-R, against which the little Toyota would certainly stand even less of a chance by any metric other than affordability, fuel economy or ability to park in tight spots.

In any case, watch this Manga-fied video above, and feel free to read through the related press release below.

The Porsche 911 GT3 is a very, very good performance car. Yes, we know this is like saying fire is hot and a shovel to the head hurts. What's different about this proclamation, then? Well, we bring up the 911 GT3's inherent goodness because our friends at Road & Track have named it their 2015 performance car of the year.

This is, our joking aside, a big accomplishment for the 911 GT3, due largely to the field of cars it beat out. There were many equally track-focused wonders in attendance, including the Ferrari 458 Speciale, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and Dodge Viper SRT TA, as well as more capable everyday vehicles, like the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, BMW M3 and Ford Mustang GT.

But it was the 475-horsepower, rear-engined track star that R&T fell for, with editor-in-chief Larry Webster calling out the Porsche's ridiculous, howling, 9,000-rpm redline, while other editors cited its phenomenal handling character.

"But as much as the Porsche's looks and sound were enough to pull our heartstrings, it also topped the speed charts across every category. It's just an incredibly well-rounded and entertaining machine. It's a car to dream about," Webster said in a release.

Scroll down for Road & Track's press release on the winning car, and then head over to the R&T website for a full look at the 2015 Performance Car of the Year feature.

Tesla's 2014 third quarter financial report mixed some positive news with gloomy messages. On one hand, the electric carmaker posted its best quarter ever in terms of deliveries, including its best single day with 907 EVs delivered. The company also announced expanded production to get even more vehicles out the door by the end of 2015. However, the Model X got delayed yet again and higher prices in Europe were mulled. Dousing the results with a bit more cold water, a Merrill Lynch investor letter claims there's more to be pessimistic about the business than meets the eye.

The Daily Kanban, quoting research meant for Merrill Lynch clients, claims that Tesla had "approximately 3K vehicles stocked in inventory or in transit" at the end of the Q3. That's a fairly large number considering that the company reports selling 7,785 units for the whole quarter. The statement is also surprising because the automaker has a reputation for keeping excess supply low, and there are allegedly waiting lists for Model S sedans. CEO Elon Musk maintains that the automaker has a problem being able to keep up with high demand, as well.

According to Daily Kanban, the letter further states, "China is proving to be more challenging for Tesla to penetrate than expected." The automaker does not break out sales by region in its Q3 financials to check this assertion, however, the company does report the recently opened store in Shenzhen is one of its top-grossing stores worldwide and that there are now 23 Supercharger locations in 10 Chinese cities.

Merrill Lynch is hardly the first company to challenge the consistently positive assertions made by Musk. In late October, the stock price bounced all over the place after a claim of falling sales by The Wall Street Journal prior to the Q3 announcement. Another analyst believed the company might need around $6 billion to get all of its plans accomplished by 2025.

Volvo is furthering its deep ties in China by announcing a major expansion to its factory in Daqing that will equip the site to build its future S90 sedan. The automaker is promising to make the plant, "one of the most advanced car making facilities in China," according to its press release. Unfortunately, the company isn't specifying the amount being invested or how long the work will take.

Because the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing owns about 37 percent of the automaker, the location for the significant expansion isn't entirely surprising, especially since Geely owns a majority stake in the Swedish brand. The existing factory there employs about 700 people to build the original XC90 for the local market, but the upgrades will allow the plant to handle Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture modular platform.

To be fair, Volvo doesn't specifically call out the S80-replacing S90 by name in its announcement. However, it promises the first vehicle built in Daqing after the expansion will be a new premium sedan, and the upgrades will allow the plant to make "most innovative vehicles in its product range," and the range-topping sedan is widely expected to adopt the S90 moniker.

"We are fully committed to the growth of our business in China, our second home market," Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars' President and Chief Executive, in its announcement. With over 80,000 estimated sales in China this year, the market is now the automaker's single largest worldwide.

The S90 is part of Volvo's realignment of its naming scheme to its 40, 60 and 90 series, with plans for a sedan, wagon and crossover for each of them. Styling is still a mystery, but the V90 is rumored to take cues from the handsome Concept Estate. Hopefully, some of that fantastic design rubs off on the four-door, too. Scroll down to read the company's full announcement for the expansion.

After seeing the recently released trailer, we're sure many are looking forward to the mindless automotive excitement that Fast & Furious 7 promises. The film looks to be going to even crazier extremes in this seventh installation of the franchise, with cars parachuting out of planes, a bus bristling with guns and Jason Statham beating people up. However, the movie doesn't hit theaters until April 3, 2015. That's a bit of a wait, but thankfully a video from Mighty Car Mods is giving us a taste of what to expect by going behind the scenes with the man in charge of building vehicles for the series.

The true highlight of this video happens with we're taken along on a visit to the movie's car coordinator, Dennis McCarthy, where we learn the secrets behind these custom vehicles. For example, McCarthy specs many of the models in the film with a standardized, 500-horsepower drivetrain. Not only does it provide plenty of power, but the uniform solution probably makes them easier to repair on set, too.

Check out the video for a sneak peek at some of the cool cars being featured in next-year's installment of the action franchise, and get the inside scoop on some behind-the-scenes production stories about how the work gets done.

Upon first inspection, this looks to be a strangely styled Bugatti Veyron. Such a thing shouldn't be a shock. We have, after all, already seen the hypercar with a penis on the hood and painted in nearly every single hue that exists on our planet. Take a closer look, though, and we see something altogether different. That's because this isn't a Veyron – it's new, rumored to be a replacement to the Veyron and is allegedly called the Chiron.

The first identifier that we're looking at something different are the huge carbon-ceramic brakes, which dwarf the already meaty pans found on the standard Veyron Super Sport. Beyond that, the distinctive snorkel intakes of the Veyron have been replaced with simple NACA ducts, while Bugatti engineers have ditched the car's enormous adjustable rear spoiler.

That amputation has allowed our spies to peek into the back of the car, and identify what we think are the components of an electric powertrain. Considering current performance trends, we shouldn't be surprised that Bugatti (and by extension, Volkswagen) are tinkering with hybrid tech.

What is surprising is that our spies report that the Veyron's iconic 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine remains in place. The 1,200-horsepower engine will allegedly be complemented by an extra 300 ponies from the electric motor(s), for a LaFerrari-killing 1,500 hp. So yeah, those supersized brakes now make a bit more sense.

Perhaps the strangest thing, though, can be found in the cabin, where the steering wheel from a VW GTI can be found. Don't worry oil sheiks and oligarchs of the world, your next ultra-exclusive, multi-million-dollar hypercar won't share its steering wheel with a $25,000 hot hatchback. This was likely just plugged in because it plays nicely with other VAG components in the test mule.

Take a look at our gallery of images of the new Chiron as it undergoes testing in Europe and let us know what else you spy hiding in these shots.

A European lobby group has called for the end of alcohol sponsorship in Formula One, issuing an open letter to FIA president Jean Todt.

According to the letter published by the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, drunk driving accounted for 6,500 deaths (or 25 percent of road deaths) across Europe in 2010. Based on those numbers, and drawing a direct (if rather tenuous) correlation between drunk driving and alcohol sponsorship in motor racing, the organization known as Eurocare is calling on the FIA to ban liquor companies from sponsoring F1 teams and events.

Currently the Williams team is sponsored by Martini, Force India by Smirnoff and McLaren by Johnnie Walker.

Currently the Williams team is sponsored by Martini, Force India by Smirnoff and McLaren by Johnnie Walker, which was also recently named the official whisky of the sport. Out of deference to (if not compliance with) the ban on consuming alcohol under Sharia law, most teams remove any liquor logos when racing in Muslim countries (where the champagne traditionally sprayed and drank on the podium is also typically replaced with a non-alcoholic substitute like rosewater).

Banning those and other liquor brands from sponsoring the teams and advertising track-side at races would come at a rather difficult time for the series in which several teams are struggling financially. Eurocare addresses the issue, noting that F1 did recover from the ban of tobacco advertising, which was previously a huge contributor to the bottom line of teams like Ferrari (Marlboro), McLaren (West), Lotus (JPS) and Honda (British American Tobacco).

A recent op-ed similarly called for the end of sponsorship by energy drink brands like Red Bull and Monster Energy, which support countless racing teams across numerous racing disciplines.

Of course Formula One isn't the only form of motorsport where alcohol advertising is prevalent. NASCAR and IndyCar have had checkered histories with alcohol companies advertising in their series, the former's second-tier championship famously having been known as the Busch Series after the beer label – while the top-tier series was known as the Winston Cup after RJ Reynolds cigarette brand. Both series have since been renamed for less controversial sponsors Nationwide Insurance and Sprint telecom. The American Le Mans Series was similarly title-sponsored by Patrón tequila before it merged into the United SportsCar Championship, sponsored by watchmaker Tudor.

Texas might be known for the independent spirit of its people and for long stretches of high-speed open road, but prospective buyers of the Polaris Slingshot need to look elsewhere for their three-wheeled thrills. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles says that the sporty models cannot be registered there because they don't meet the definition of a motorcycle.

According to dealer letters posted on Slingshot Forums, Polaris had already received approval from the state over the summer to sell the Slingshot in Texas. However, on November 4, the company was advised by the DMV that the vehicles couldn't be registered. Under the Texas guidelines, a motorcycle is defined as a vehicle with a "saddle" seat, meaning that it is positioned between occupants' legs. However, people sit side-by-side inside the Slingshot like a traditional car.

According to the letter, Polaris is working to find solutions "as quickly and efficiently as possible," but the company doesn't know when that could be. It claims to be in contact with the "upper levels" of the DMV to rectify things.

Understandably, people in the Lone Star State ready to buy one of these sporty three-wheelers are upset at the news. According to forum members, the DMV's decision is especially confusing because other vehicles with similar layouts, like the Campagna Motors T-Rex and Morgan Three-Wheeler, are already registered in Texas. It makes the exception for the Slingshot that much more strange.

The Slingshot was unveiled in July with a base price of $19,999. It boasts a General-Motors-sourced 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder making 173 horsepower and 166 pound-feet of torque, and power goes to the belt-driven rear wheel through a five-speed manual. It's styling mixes a little KTM X-Bow with the dipping sides reminiscent of a Triumph TR-3. Hopefully, Texans get a chance to enjoy them soon.

Airbags are getting a bit of a bad rap at the moment from Takata's recall, but as we all know, the devices can be lifesavers. Even motorcycles are getting into the tech with companies finding ways to mount the bags on the bike or attaching them to riders. The latest innovation comes from cycle gearmaker Alpinestars, with an evolution of its Tech-Air system. The creative solution puts the bag and all of its sensors in modular form into specially made jackets.

The Tech-Air airbag itself is in a mesh vest worn underneath one of the compatible jackets, and the system arms when the coat is zipped up. According to Alpinestars' website, the system takes 30-60 milliseconds to detect a crash and fully inflates in 25 milliseconds. Some of the development of the algorithms determining when a rider is an accident actually comes from MotoGP racing. European sales are slated to begin this spring.

Check out the video above for a demonstration of the safety tech in action on a live person and then in crash test. If you watch closely, you can actually see the moment the airbag inflates.

Taking charge of a major corporation will never be without its challenges, and one of those – as Honda CEO Takanobu Ito is finding out – is filling the big shoes of those that came before. Ito's predecessors are apparently not pleased with what he's doing to the company, and are wasting no time in telling him so.

According to Reuters, two former Honda chiefs have recently visited Ito (pictured above with his predecessor Takeo Fukui) to talk to him about the Japanese automaker's quality issues, which they apparently regard as eroding the company's image. Nobuhiko Kawamoto, who served as CEO from 1990-98, reportedly came to Honda headquarters in Tokyo to deliver "stern words" to Ito last month. Kawamoto's immediate successor, Hiroyuki Yoshino, reportedly met with Ito under similar circumstances earlier this year.

Kawamoto and Yoshino are part of a larger group of former Honda executives who are concerned with the declining quality of the company's products under Ito's leadership. Where Honda once focused more on quality, collaborating more closely with parts suppliers,more recently the company has, in the eyes of those former executives at least, shifted its focus to quantity and to new technologies. That's what, the report alleges, has led to Honda recalling so many of its vehicles in recent years.

The former executives aren't calling for Ito's resignation, but are urging him to shift his focus back to quality in order to save the company's image from further eroding.

The all-new, seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf has captured Motor Trend's prestigious Car of the Year award. The Golf, along with its many variants, which include the diesel-powered TDI, GTI hot hatch and electric E-Golf, beat out a slew of competitors which included corporate cousin Audi and its new A3.

Other finalist vehicles bested by the Golf include the 2015 Ford Mustang, BMW 2 Series, Honda Fit, Hyundai Genesis, Kia Sedona, Lexus RC, Maserati Ghibli and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

"VW floored our judges by reimagining the seventh generation Golf for nearly every need and want," Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh said in a statement. "From the value-laden Golf 1.8T and high-MPG Golf TDI to the legendary hot hatch GTI and all-electric e-Golf, there truly is a Golf for everyone."

As it did with its SUV of the Year contest last month, which was taken by the 2015 Honda CR-V, Motor Trend rated a total of 23 vehicles in six categories, ranging from how they look, to how efficient they are to their overall value. That was pared down to ten finalists before the Golf was declared the winner.

Scroll down for the celebratory press release from Volkswagen, and then head over to Motor Trend for an extended explainer on why the Golf reigned supreme for 2014.

Jaguar Land Rover is clearly hitting the ground running with its new Special Vehicle Operations division. The only question is, what kind of ground surface is that, exactly? According to the latest intel coming in from the UK, that the skunkworks department could be focusing its attention next on a rough-and-tumble, off-road version of the Range Rover.

The news comes straight from SVO chief John Edwards, apparently speaking with Auto Express at the recent launch of the Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience. According to Edwards, "There are four different types of cars we want to do at SVO." The first is on-road performance models, like the Range Rover Sport SVR. The second is ultra-luxury models like the Range Rover Holland & Holland edition revealed just the other day. Next are small-run "collector's editions" like the F-Type Project 7. But the last category we haven't seen yet – and that's extreme off-road vehicles.

A few weeks ago we caught wind of a plan to make a more radical version of the Defender to send it off into retirement, but Edwards seems even more keen on an off-road-focused version of the Range Rover – whether in addition to or instead of the extreme Defender. The flagship model would be stripped out, with its posh leather upholstery replaced by more durable high-tech fabric, the suspension jacked up for higher ground clearance, the rolling stock replaced with knobbier rubber, the underbody reinforced with skid plates and more.

The idea might not fit, exactly, with how Land Rover plans to compartmentalize its lineup, or how the image which the Range Rover sub-brand has developed over the years. But a ruggedized version of the flagship model could serve to highlight just how capable a vehicle it is – while giving rock-crawling enthusiasts something to sink their teeth into.