Autoblog

If a G-Class Mercedes stirs dispassionate responses, there may still be a Mercedes for you. While the Gelandewagen is no joke in its own right, Daimler's own ultimate terra bully would roll right over it. Unimogs have been around for about fifty years, and were originally designed as go-anywhere, do-anything work trucks. The U500 Black Edition Unimog is still akin to a vehicular Chuck Norris, but luxed-up to the point that you'd hate to mar the blingy pedals with muddy boots.

England's BigLorryBlog had a chance to bruise the earth with one of these, and found it an object of workmen's desire. The U500 they sampled was not outfitted with any hard labor devices, so the ride was a bit bouncy, but nobody was complaining from the leather clad driver's perch with its own suspension. At €250,000, it's not cheap, but the good stuff never is. Here's what you say when someone questions your buying decision: "Buy the best, cry once. Now get outta my way before I make your Paseo scrap."

Thanks for the tip, Dan!

[Source: BigLorryBlog]

Here's a test of your unyielding devotion to all that is cloaked in green. First, let's set the scene. It's the wee hours of the morning, the wind-driven rain is still howling against your house, and you're huddled on the second floor, waiting for morning. You've spent most of the night trying to stanch the flow of water into the basement, and those hours of backbreaking labor with sandbags and utility pumps have left you dog tired, devoid of fight. The power is out, and all you've got is a safety candle and an AM radio, and you're just waiting for the incoming tide to lap off the joists beneath you. With all due respect to Gordon Lightfoot and the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald; the gales of November came early.

Among the general chaos outside, you hear the steady rhythm of an engine. Small blocks always make music, but this time the tune is particularly joyous. At once, you're on your feet, peering out the window. The thrum of 8 cylinders working hard gets ever louder as the vehicle draws near. Could it be rescuers? The National Guard? Looters? All of a sudden, you're blinded by a wash of light as a bank of KC Highlighters gets trained upon your house. You recoil, your eyes taking a moment to adjust to all the candlepower. Who is it?

[Source: Advertising Age]

Click photo above to view a gallery of Tundra shots

I wanted to hate this thing. Toyota? Taking on the last bastion of red blooded American pickups? Yeah, right! The domestic manufacturers have kept cranking up quality, capability and refinement levels - who's this upstart think it is, anyway? Not only has the Tundra garnered a metric crapload of commentary, it's ugly. Okay, not to everyone, but it reminds me of that time I got sand in my eyelids. When a Tundra Limited Double Cab unexpectedly arrived wearing a rather appropriate shade of Herman Melville white, I was primed to register severe intestinal discomfort. Dang.

Oh, the puns for this are absolutely endless! If you're late:"Let's put the screws to it and make up some time." If you're early: "Looks like we have a few minutes to screw around in the parking lot." Like we said -- endless source of amusement. When people get tired of your jokes and tell you to go screw off, this is definitely the vehicle you want to take. Starting life as a Bombardier snow groomer, the likes of which us downhill skiiers have to sometimes dodge, a team of British nutcases thrill seekers really tricked the machine out for it's treacherous journey. They added a screw propulsion system to help drive on snow without getting high-centered, as well as adding propulsion when floating on water. The journey of Snowbird 6, as the ultimate all-terrain vehicle is known, is chronicled at Icechallenger.com. Seems like an awful lot of effort to go roughly 56 miles, but it's cool as hell, just like the moon landing.

[Source: Icechallenger.com via PatentPendingBlog]

In 2007, Toyota will be bringing to market a Limited Edition model of its popular FJ Cruiser, complete will all the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) goodies.

First off, the limited edition version will be sprayed down head-to-toe, in black paint, nixing its trademarked white roof. The wheels will be coated in an anthracite finish and wrapped with uprated BF Goodrich All-Terrain rubber. To complete the exclusive look, expect the prerequisite "TRD Limited Edition" badges adorning as many surfaces as possible.

Appearance is one thing, capability is another and TRD recognizes that the base model could benefit from a few staple mods to make it a more competent off-roader. The stock suspension will be tossed and fitted with TRD/Bilstein shocks, developed for dirt duty and covered in a red finish. The new shocks are claimed to reduce squat and dive, as well as increase straight-line stability. Another mod includes mating the locking diff with the Active Control computer, which will aid the FJ when rock crawling is the activity du jour. The package will also include a TRD performance exhaust and "rock rails."

The interior will benefit with an array of airbags, including both seat-mounted and side curtain, along with a "multi-informational display" that comes equipped with a temp. gauge, compass and inclinometer.

A total of 3,200 vehicles will be made, with a $7,265 increase in MSRP on manual models and a $7,250 increase on automatic models. The $15 premium on the manual-equipped FJ is purportedly due to the "quick shifter" option.

If you want to see the new FJ in person, it'll be prominently displayed during this year's SEMA show in November.

In the following press release, Toyota also snuck in a $300 increase on its Camry Hybrid, effective October 30th.

Most land-speed racing takes place in the deserts of the Southwest United States, but that doesn't mean that all land-speed records are set there. Voyage Concepts' Jason De Carteret lead a team from the Antarctica port of Patriot Hills to the geographical South Pole in just over 69 hours - averaging marginally more than 10 MPH over the 700-mile trek.

The vehicle of choice was a heavily-modified 15-passenger Econoline van, which was converted to a 6x6 drive configuration and outfitted with 44" tall tires. Its 7.3L Powerstroke engine burned 360 gallons of diesel along the way.

The previous record of 24 days was set by Shinji Kazama, who used a motorcycle. Yeah, we don't know what he was thinking, either.

[Sources: Forbes, Voyage Concepts]

This is the kind of sub-$20k SUV we expect from Jeep, rather than the Compass that’s barely trail rated to cross the street let alone a rocky fjord. The Patriot, however, will share much of its mechanicals with the Compass, including the 2.4L World Engine four-cylinder that produces 172 hp and 165 ft-lbs. of torque and your choice of either a standard five-speed or CVT transmission. The Patriot can be had in mild mannered FWD trim or with two other more capable off-road packages that do a passable job of impersonating a real Jeep.

The first is called Freedom Drive I and features available full-time, active four-wheel drive with a trick Lock mode that acts like full-time four-wheel drive. The Freedome Drive II package jacks the Patriot up an inch and comes with a second-gen CVT that’s got  a “low range” mode, skid plates, tow hooks, a full-size spare and such electronic off-road nannies as Hill-Descent Control, Off-Road Brake Traction Control and ESP.

The Patriot will go on sale in the third quarter of 2006 and will be built by the prodigal employees of the Belvidere assembly plant.

There’s lots more details on the Patriot in Jeep’s full press release after the jump, as well as a full gallery of pics.

[Source: Jeep]