Ok, so not really, but he really is a knight! The honour of knighthood is bestowed upon individuals who have been recognized for making significant contributions in any field. The title of Sir…. is only available to the Queen’s own subjects. Ghosn has received the title of Knight Commander of the British Empire.

Pretty good for a lowly car industry guy, regardless of how smart he is.

Via Motor Authority

Regular readers of The Garage may have figured out that I’m working towards a goal here. The creation of The Garage was the first step towards building a blog network. In my eyes, that makes TG the crown jewel of the project, but I suppose I’m biased. The reality is that to grow, we are going to need more bloggers on the team.

Currently we’ve got 7 people writing 4 blogs, with a couple of others floating around the edge of the network. I’m asking all of our readers here in The Garage to pass the word around that we are looking for bloggers. It can be your spouse, neighbour or co-worker, we don’t care. All we ask is that the person is passionate enough about something that they can write a few times a week about it without burning out.

This is an opportunity for a few people to earn a little extra money, while writing about whatever they love. Topics? Well, we’re really open to suggestion. Just a few ideas are:

• Entertainment/Celebrities
• Sports - We have a hockey blog ready to roll, we just need a blogger for it.
• Science/Health
• Music
• Style/Fashion
• Home Improvement

If you or anyone you know is interested, contact me at join@blairvalleymedia.com

Drift king Taro Koki and his team have just launched GT Channel, which is sort of like an automotive version of Youtube. Visitors can watch and upload their videos to share. Maybe even better is the fact that they are planning to share a bit of the wealth from their advertising with anyone who posts their videos on their site.

Most of the vids posted so far are drifitng related, along with some road test content. Expect this content to grow drastically over the next few months. This will be fun to watch.

Vist GT Channel and Taro’s personal blog.

Ok, so this isn’t automotive, but who wouldn’t love to have a tank in their garage? Over in Jolly Olde, you can spend $139 for 2 hours of fun in some heavy artillary. You and up to 3 buddies actually fight with another tank for top honours. So all you paintball geeks shell out some cash for that flight across the pond and have some real fun.

Via Gizmodo

Bye Bye Corolla, hello Auris. Today Toyota introduced the world to the long time top seller’s replacement. The Auris will be available as a 3 or 5 door hatch. Typical of cars available across the Atlantic, the Auris will be available with a whopping 5 different engines. Buyers will have their choice between 2 gasoline engines or 3 diesel mills. Our European readers may not be aware of this, but small cars in North America usually arrive with 1 engine, maybe 2 at the most and we never see a diesel. Driving enthusiasts can choose a six speed manual, while the none sporting can still get sporty with a paddle shift automatic. The really cool thing is that the hottest engine is a diesel, yet will hit 60 mph in about 8 seconds. There is no word if we’ll see the Auris here in North America, but we can keep our fingers crossed.
Toyota Motor Europe press release and more pics after the break
Continue reading →

The Garage has been full of friends this weekend, as the FAB East and West kitchens got together for some sweet cooking, so there hasn’t been much time for automotive news. As I catch up on some reading, it’s time Speed Shift once again.

AutoblogGreen tells us that it’s illegal in the States to fuel a vehicle with veggie oil, because the EPA hasn’t safety certified fryer oil. Better be quiet about it if you’re filling up at the local Choke & Puke.

More than a few hybrid owners have complained that their mega buck ride isn’t quite as fuel efficient as they had expected. Kelsey Mays spent some time in a Toyota Prius for Kicking Tires, only to discover that the car consumed far more dino juice than the EPA numbers predict.

The Crystal Cove Car Show in Newport Beach has moved and been renamed Coffee & Cars. CCCS visited and took some stunning shots. It’s worth a look, as this is not your average weekly cruise.

Back in high school, the Cragar SS was the rim of choice for most guys. If someone drove a Mustang or Camaro, it was pretty much a given that it was wearing the iconic 5 spoke wheels. Now it looks like Cragar is taking things up a couple of notches with a Mustang and an F-150. Alex Nunez over at Autoblog has all the deets.

Autoblog also has pics of the most outrageous Corvette we’ve seen in a while. Can a remake of Corvette Summer be far behind?

And finally, Mark Tapscott has gotten this week’s Carnival Of Cars up. As always, it’s been well worth the wait.

Oh, to be rich at Christmas! Here in Ontario, most folks look forward to the Sears Christmas Wish book, or maybe even the Canadian Tire catalogue. Not so for 50 lucky Neiman Marcus customers who found their present in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book that went on sale yesterday at noon. All 50 copies of the 500 HP Neiman Marcus Edition BMW M6 Convertible were sold within one minute and thirty two seconds! By my math, that is just a hair under 7 million bucks in a minute and a half. Just incredible.

BMW press release after the break

Continue reading →

Somebody actually said “Boxy but good” to me today. Of course they were talking about my 740 Turbo Wagon, not the slick new XC90 Sport. To appease those potential customers who crave a bit of go along with the versatily of an SUV, Volvo has added all sorts of goodies to the XC90 V8. Interior and exterior styling bits, sport suspension, exhaust, 19″ wheels and a full techno package ensure that the XC90 Sport will not be mistaken for a soccer mom mobile.

More pics and Volvo press release after the break

Continue reading →

Not quite sure what to say about this one. Maybe rename it The Wave. Designer Enrico Fumia must have spent too much time in the spa when he dreamt this up.

Source Infomotori via Jalopnik

More wretchedness after the break

Continue reading →

Those lucky stiffs over at Autoblog have just spent some time with the new Roush 427R Mustang, and it was no cruise around the blog. Nope, these guys got the time to spin it on a dyno and even take a bunch of passes down the strip. The 427 stands for 427 hp, and the translated to 356 at the wheels, with 330 ft/lbs. Those numbers were solid enough for a 13.2 pass down the 1/4 at 108.77 mph. While that number may disappoint some, don’t forget that most of the big magazine tests are done by pro drivers.

Visit Autoblog for their full story, along with tons of great pics and a nice first try at a video.

Roush press release about the 427R after the break.

Continue reading →