When the modern day Knight Rider tv movie was shown a couple of months ago, pundits criticized the schlocky story and iffy acting but everyone agreed that Kitt was beyond cool. For the upcoming series, producers felt they needed to kick things up a notch and make Kitt a bit more extreme.

At the 2008 edition of Comic Con earlier this week, NBC unveiled the decidedly more aggressive looking Kitt Attack version. They also sent in the Comic Con Virgin to do a few interviews and catch the reveal.

Video after the break
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Frank as in Detective Frank Bullitt. The Garage is heading south for Connecticut early tomorrow morning. Destination: Lime Rock Park to cover the American Le Mans Series event. If we make it the whole way with our licenses intact, it will be a miracle.

In fact, I had been behind the wheel a grand total of about 7 minutes this afternoon before I decided to attack an on ramp. Right under the watchful eye of the local constabulary. Fortunately, Oakville Ontario’s finest must have had more important things to do than question a fat old man about his driving habits and he left me alone. We will have to mind our p’s and q’s along the way, as while Frank may look stealthy he has a healthy bark that attracts attention at every stop light.

It’s just so much fun to open Frank up and hear his heart growl that I’m sure the side roads through the Catskills are going to be a hoot. As the weekend goes by, we’ll be blogging and posting tons of photos along the way. My co-pilot this time out is a former Mustang owner, who will likely put in a few comments here and there about the improvements Ford has made in the last 19 years since he bought his LX. We’re going to meet up with a few friends from the web over the weekend, so we should have a few surprises along the way.

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As a wee lad, I remember watching a bunch of NASCAR races on TV. As an impressionable young boy, the roundy rounds of the early Seventies were pretty neat stuff and that Petty guy was just too cool. As I grew up, NASCAR lost it’s luster for me and I lost all interest. The cars from a decade earlier never really became more than the tiniest blip on my radar.

Lately though, as I learn how many of those early oval track drivers also got involved in open road races like La Carrera and how many of the cars were sort of multi use, I’m starting to notice these cars a lot more. There is a whole new element of automotive cool that I’ve just never really exposed myself to.

At the 2008 VARAC Festival at Mosport, I came across what might have been the coolest car I’ve seen in years, David Strachan’s 62 Ford Galaxie. That’s a pretty strong statement for a clone car in a paddock full of Can Am cars, but it is the truth. Strachan’s machine is a period correct copy of the Holman Moody Galaxie’s from the early Sixties. David and the team went to great lengths to use as many original bits as possible. The shocks are true old Holman Moody pieces, as are the wheels. Great care was taken to replicate trick pieces like adjustable front shock mounts. The car is powered by a big honkin’ 427 cubic inch V-8, just like one would expect to find.
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I’m a sucker for traditional rods these days and Flickr user Lostillusion75’s shot titled Racing 33 gives me the warm fuzzies on a smokin’ hot Friday afternoon. This makes me want to go cruising tonight.

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Mosport and Trans Am. The two names have been intertwined since the early days of both institutions. Unfortunately, one continues to flourish, while the other has more or less died gone on hiatus. Way back in the early days of The Garage, I sent an open letter to Paul Gentilozzi and friends suggesting that a workable modern formula for the ailing series might be found in the roots of the series. While I never expected a response (and never got one) the data recorders showed a healthy bit of traffic from the Trans Am and SCCA offices. Let’s hope the message sunk in.

If Trans Am is to have a snowball’s chance in hell of having a resurrection, the Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup certainly could show the way. These modern Ford race cars are beyond exciting. A production body shell, prepared initially by the factory to go racing. An affordable, exciting platform that provides equal excitement for fans and drivers. These cars look great and sound absolutely incredible. They scramble for traction and slide all over Mosport’s undulating surface, just like the real Trans Am cars way back in the 60’s and early 70’s. These are real race cars the crowd can relate to, unlike the tube frame monstrosities that populated the series for the last decade and a half of it’s life.

After the break, there is a huge gallery from the paddock, qualifying and Sunday’s race. Grab a cold one, sit back and enjoy!
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The upcoming Ford Flex has been creating quite the buzz lately, and Ford is hoping that today’s production line launch of the hip new crossover will bring some of that buzz to showrooms. It was pretty invigorating being surrounded by several hundred guys and girls who are fired up about a new vehicle they were building. The in house enthusiasm for the Flex is contagious and it was plain to see that everyone in attendance has high expectations for Ford’s newest family hauler.
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Ok, I know, The Garage is all about cars not singing so why are we talking about American Idol? Well, Ford has been involved with the hit reality contest series since the beginning and they’ve created some pretty cool videos using Idol contestants and Ford products. Oh yes, that and they are giving stuff away. Not just any stuff though, they are giving away a trip for 2 to the 2008 season finale in Los Angeles, $5000 cash and a 2008 Focus equipped with the SYNC technology package.

All you need to do is visit the American Idol site before the end of today and answer a few questions about the Ford American Idol music videos. You can do it! We know you’ve been watching! I’ll even admit that my money is on the little guy.

That’s not all! Watch The Garage over the next couple of days, where we’ll be having our own contest with an American Idol give a way courtesy of Ford!

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Way back in the early 70’s, when the parental units had gone their separate ways, Mom bought a cool little red car the Ford had just imported to Canada from Germany. It was called the Capri and it was the coolest thing on wheels, or so I thought. Those early European market cars didn’t fare too well on Ontario’s salty roads and this little coupe earned the nickname the Red Rusty Crapi. Nonetheless, I loved it right up until the day they dragged it away, crushing my dreams of restoring my first car.

Over the years, the car Capri became a Mercury and never really amounted to much, rather languishing in the shadow of it’s sibling, the Fox body Mustang.

If our friends down under at CarADVICE.com.au are right, we may see the sketch above materialize as a concept over the next couple of years. Will it make it to production? Who knows, but it sure would be sweet to see it as a stablemate for the Mustang once again.

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Having the 2008 Ford F-150 in The Garage this week is a bit of a double edged sword. On the positive side, we are in the midst of moving my step father and I have some lumber to pick up this weekend for a new deck. On the slightly frightening side, gas is $1.09 a liter (roughly $4.36 a gallon) this week here in the Toronto area.

As many readers may be aware, the 08 F-150 is nearing the end of it’s production run, with the all new 09 model waiting in the wings. This late model test will serve us well when we test the replacement in the next few months. So far, it is a great looking truck that has tons of seating room. The kids even commented on how wide the rear seat is. Out back, our tester has the full complement of cargo aids, from lockable storage bins to cross rails and a cool divider to keep stuff from sliding around.

Check back over the next couple of weeks as we let you know what life is like with Ford’s bread and butter hauler.

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Ford has released details of the impending sale of their premium British brands to Indian automaker Tata. The short story is a closing date by the end of next quarter and a paltry $2.3 Billion US.

The long story of course is still in the crystal ball stage. There is little question that this sale will have a dramatic effect on the Indian car market. How much effect will it have on the North American market remains to be seen, but Tata will now have an established dealer network on our shores. Could we see a new economy brand on this continent over the coming years? Only time will tell.

Full details from Ford after the break
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