As we went for an all-too-short walking tour of Dresden this week, amongst all of the modern Volkswagens, Toyotas and BMWs was one sad little sedan. At first glance, it looked like an old Fiat or Lada. A closer look at the badge on the rear end revealed it to be a Wartburg. While Trabant is the better-known motoring icon of the former German Democratic Republic (a.k.a. East Germany), the Wartburg actually managed to find an export market outside of the Soviet bloc.

For a time, Wartburgs were exported to the U.K., South Africa and a few other countries. Like its compatriot, the Trabant, the Wartburg derived its "propulsion" from a two-stroke engine, in this case a 993cc three-cylinder with about 50 horsepower. Also like the Trabi, Wartburg faded into history after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But clearly, some do live on.



Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Ford has already demonstrated strong, puppetmaster-like abilities with the whole Fiesta Agent thing. In exchange for agreeing to go on secretive "missions," a few dozen people were given a Ford Fiesta for six months this year (they're about due to give them back). Building from of that idea, comedian Mark Malkoff – yes, the guy who slept in an IKEA store for a week – is trying to collect the "Keys to the City" from as many cities as possible this month. Malkoff has convinced Ford to loan him a new Fusion hybrid while he travels around and performs a few stunts to earn those keys – including collecting all of the coins from a fountain in Fairfax, VA and cleaning up after the police horses in Harrisburg, PA.

We're not quite sure who's pulling who's strings here, but it seems someone's getting played. At least it's all in good fun. There's a video of Malkoff figuring out what the keys to the city are all about after the jump.

[Source: Ford]

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The 2010 Highlander is now officially Toyota's 12th North American-built vehicle, with the midsized crossover rolling down the line at the Japanese automaker's Princeton, Indiana plant. Toyota has also streamlined its worldwide production in the process, as building the Highlander here in the States helps keep its West Virginia engine plant busy while Toyota's 250 suppliers increase production. Toyota says the addition of the Highlander to the Indiana plant also adds security to the 4,200 employees earning solid wages at the facility, and it notes that the company didn't lay off any hourly workers when production was slowed due to the economic downturn and plant retooling.

Bringing the Highlander to Indiana was made possible when Toyota consolidated production of the Tundra pickup from Indiana down to the purpose-built truck factory in Texas. At one time, the Highlander was scheduled to be built at Toyota's Mississippi plant, a facility that was never completed due in part to Toyota's lagging sales. The world's largest automaker by volume decided that it would be better to utilize the capacity that it already had in the States and abroad, and bolting together the Highlander in Indiana was a big part of that decision. The Highlander will be built alongside the Sienna minivan and the Sequoia SUV. Hit the jump to read over the Toyota press release.



[Source: Toyota]

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The ALMS race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend is Gil de Ferran's final race of his career, and he plans to go out on top. The Brazilian captured pole position yesterday in his Acura ARX-02a, which features a unique livery to honor Jim Hall, the man who de Ferran first raced for. The milk white paint and number 66 roundels mimic Hall's legendary Chaparral race cars, two of which were on hand at the track. Gil de Ferran's qualifying time of 1:11.206 was less than a tenth of a second off the class record, which was followed closely by fellow Acura driver David Brabham. Brabham and the rest of the Patron Highcroft Racing team need only to complete seventy percent of the race to wrap up the LMP1 championship.

The Lowe's Fernandez Racing LMP2 Acura team continued its season-long dominance by capturing its fourth pole of the season and hopes to record its eighth victory this year. Although the team secured the class championship at Petit Le Mans two weeks ago, it hasn't secured sponsorship for the 2010 season and hopes to make a good final impression.

In the hotly-contested GT2 category, Corvette Racing continued to prove that it will be a top contender no matter what class it competes in. Jan Magunessen edged out the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 in qualifying for Corvette's first ever GT2 pole position. The main battle will be between the Ferrari and the Flying Lizard Porsche GT3 RSR, both of which are still in contention for the championship.

Check back tomorrow for more of our ALMS coverage from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and if you have SPEED TV, tune in from 2:30 to 6:30 pm EST time on Sunday to watch the race, or listen live this afternoon at AmericanLeMans.com or on Sirius 126 and XM 242. If you simply want to view high-res pics from the race, then point your mouse to the gallery below.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: AmericanLeMans.com]

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For all the high tech engineering wizardry that symbolizes the modern German car industry, the Trabant 601 was the absolute antithesis of it all. The slow, smoky Trabi was a perfect icon for the failure of the ironically named German Democratic Republic. Once the Berlin Wall fell (twenty years ago next month), many of these little machines trundled across from East to West, as people suppressed for 40 years tried to escape.

Today, the number of surviving Trabis has dwindled, but as we made our way from Wolfsburg to Berlin via Dresden this week, we actually spotted several of them on the road. It wasn't until we approached the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, however, that we hit the gold mine. There, turning the corner, were a whole string of Trabants. A bit of investigation after the fact revealed this was a Trabi-Safari. Trabi-Safari is a company that offers sightseeing tours of Berlin's old East side or Dresden in a fleet of Trabants -- some of which are even convertibles. The one-hour tours cost about €30 to €40 (about $50 USD) and let you see some of the landmarks of that dark time. What better way to get a ride in a Trabi?


Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Marcello Lotti, series promoter for the FIA World Touring Car Championship, told Autosport that he wants to bring the event to the United States in 2011. Inaugurated in 1987, the series was originally based in Europe. In 2009, the racing expanded to Brazil, Japan, and Mexico and continues to grow. Current rules limit engine size to 2000 cc, but that hasn't slowed automakers such as SEAT, BMW, or Chevrolet from rounding out the top 3 in Manufacturer's Championship points right now.

A race in the States would attract new manufacturers (Ford is expected to enter its new Focus model). The two most likely venues for the race would be Laguna Seca and the road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway... the favorite right now. "Our preference is for a race in the south of the country because that's where the market is for smaller cars," Lotti told Autosport. Thanks for the tip Marty!



[Source: Autosport.com]

We've been reporting on (and buying) the Automoblox line of heirloom quality toy cars for sometime, but recently there hasn't been much out of Patrick Calello's company to knock our socks off. That's about to change just in time for the holiday shopping season, however, as Automoblox will be welcoming a big set of brand-new vehicles to the lineup. The first to arrive is the T900 pickup, which just happens to bear a slight resemblance to king of heavy duty trucks, the Ford Super Duty. Arriving soon in both full-size and mini versions, the T900 is the Tonka truck that Automoblox never had.

Next up is a whole new thing for Automoblox: hot rods. The HR1, HR2 and HR3 hot rods are much more detailed than the Automoblox cars we're used to, with big grilles, period-correct wheels and in some cases, an exposed engine. Also available in full-size or mini versions, the HR series will ship shortly after the T900.



The highlight of Automoblox's holiday line up, however, pairs both new series together in a big way. Patrick and his team have put together a package that combines the new full-size T900 truck, the HR2 hot rod and a specially designed trailer to help haul the one with the other. Consider this the brand's halo package, and start dropping hints with Santa that you expect one under the tree.

Pricing has not been announced for the new models yet, but expect them to be slightly higher than the current line.




[Source: Automoblox]

General Motors just wrapped up one of its semi-regular Q&A sessions with CEO Fritz Henderson on its FastLane blog, and while nothing earth-shattering has been divulged, here's a few things that might be of interest:

• On the topic of Cadillac's recent television and print advertising, and the subsequent dropping of Modernista as Caddy's primary advertising agency (Automotive News – Sub. Req.), Henderson says, "I think we can do better."
• When asked if GM would be producing a credible alternative to the BMW M3 or possibly a Camaro sedan (thought we already had that with the G8, but, whatever), Henderson responded, "[We] do not see a [four door] Camaro in our future. We will continue to look for performance opportunities across our lineup, including in sedans."
• As for the future of the drop-top Camaro, one participant asked, "Been patiently waiting for Camaro Convertible. Best guesses are 2012 model in 1st quarter of 2011. With surging popularity of this model is there any chance of GM considering a push for earlier release?" To which Henderson replies, "Good guess and no."
• Although the Buick Regal's arrival in the States has yet to be confirmed, a question was asked about a possible GNX version based on the Insignia OPC. Henderson's answer: "Think you will like what you see in the future Regal alternatives (ala OPC alternatives), but do not look for GNX." Pity.
• Finally, when asked what cars are currently in Henderson's garage, the General's general said, "Camaro, 2005 Corvette, Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible."

For more, you can read the full transcript of the chat on GM's FastLane blog.

As a profession, there's a very long list of cars on sale in Europe that we can't buy which us auto journo types nevertheless constantly rattle our (virtual) pens over. From the Volkswagen Scirocco to the Honda Civic Type R to the 300+ hp Ford Focus to the Citroen C6, total and complete absence makes the heart grow fonder -- as well as providing an easy, brainless way for us to end all stories about said forbidden fruit. I mean imagine reading this line, "The BMW M5 Wagon sports a 507 hp 5.0-liter V10 and can run up over 200 mph with the limiter removed. Leave it in Germany!"

That said, there are a few cars that we really do want. As in, when we get together after hours on a press launch with some free booze and really start talking cars, these are the vehicles we pine for. For instance, as nifty as the Ford Focus RS is, we get to drive around in the MazdaSpeed3 often enough -- we'll live. But the aforementioned M5 Wagon? Gotta have it. Or the RS4 Avant? Mommy please. Or the Citroen C6? Or, perhaps best of all, the twin-turbo V10 Audi RS6 Avant? Oh man -- could you imagine? So yes, it's true -- all automotive journalists secretly (and not so secretly) spend their lives lusting after mega-horsepower wagons. Now you know how unreasonable and silly we all are.

Oh, yeah -- almost forgot. MTM just took their tuned 702 hp RS6 Avant to the annual Nardo High Speed event, and it blew the doors off all the other cars, two-door sports cars included. How fast? 344.2 km/h. Translated into something us 'Mericans can understand: 214 miles per hour. Can we get a dang? DANG! Full results appear next month in Auto Motor und Sport -- we'll keep you posted.

[Source: MTM]