First Drive: 2012 Iconic AC Roadster

Compare New Car Prices from Dealers Near You! One-Upping the Original Cobra October 30, 2010 / By Frank Markus | Tweet Click to view GalleryKit cars are an interesting breed. Most exist to make an iconic, super-cool old car accessible -- to folks who can't afford the original, to those who can't maintain or operate the original's fragile or archaic equipment, or to modernists who want the look and feel but with air conditioning and an iPod dock. They almost always sell for less than the originals, and most conceal mainstream corporate parts-bin components under their trompe l'oeil skins.

One of the most ubiquitously knocked-off icons is Carroll Shelby's souped-up AC Ace, the Cobra. More than a dozen companies are ready and willing to provide you some semblance of the Cobra driving experience using underpinnings ranging from the MGB and Mazda Miata to custom tube-frames, often stretched and/or widened to better accommodate the dimensions of the American leisure class. Does the world need one more Cobra replica?

Click to view GalleryNo. And it surely doesn't need one that costs about what a "good" 1965 Cobra Roadster 427 fetches (the base price is $475,000!). Clearly the Iconic AC Roadster is no ordinary kit car. It represents a thorough reimagining of what the AC Cobra might have become with 50 years of continuous evolution. And while legally it is sold as a component car like all the other Cobra kit cars (to avoid design-killing features like airbags), this one uses virtually no recognizable parts. Get a load of this bill of materials.

Engine: Naturally it's a Ford 427, though it starts out as a Ford SVT NASCAR long block that race-engine builder Ernie Elliott bores, strokes, and tops off with Iconic's own cross-ram induction and fuel injection system. The way the individual throttle blades work is even patented. Output ratings: 800 horsepower at 7600 rpm; 660 pound-feet at 5800 rpm. Dry-sump lubrication is fed from a billet-machined oil tank mounted aft of the passenger compartment and includes special oil sprayers to cool the valve springs as they and their pushrods bounce along at the 8000-rpm redline.

First Drive: 2011 Ford Flex Titanium

Check Dealer Pricing On a New Ford Flex! The 50 Thousand Dollar Question November 02, 2010 / By Mike Floyd | Tweet Click to view GalleryA couple of months back, MT's Detroit editor, Todd Lassa, said in an item introducing the Ford Flex Titanium that you could option it into the 50K range -- right smack in the Lincoln MKT's wheelhouse.

The MKT, in case you aren't up on MK nomenclature (and really, who is), is Lincoln's version of the Flex, and it's supposedly more luxurious and otherwise gloriously differentiated from its Ford sibling. But tack on the Flex Titanium package with the EcoBoost engine option, and suddenly, there's not so much differentiation going on here short of the sheetmetal.

For a vehicle that starts right around 30 grand, the Flex is generally meant for the people-moving masses, a hipper (depending on what you consider hip) alternative to the minivan set, with lots of room for multiple humans and their stuff. But when you want it all, and you don't want it from the Lincoln dealer, you can now turn to the 2011 Ford Flex Titanium.

Click to view GalleryWe recently had the chance to roll in a Titanium-clad Flex for a couple hundred miles around metro Detroit. The white platinum metallic tri-coat sprayed ($495 option) tester with a black top hat and the 3.5-liter EcoBoost option started at $45,195. Add on the paint, active park assist ($550), the second row 40/40 auto fold seats ($750), panoramic vista roof ($1495), second floor console ($100) with the refrigeration option ($795), and a $775 delivery charge and voila: This particular model checked in at $50,145. And that's without other options such as the entertainment package, which would push it even further past that magical 50 grand mark...

When the Titanium rolled up with its polished 20-inch aluminum rims shining and white tri-coat gleaming, there were plenty of snickers at the sticker. Okay, so this Flex is far from a value proposition, but it does have enough flash and dash to justify its price tag -- to a point.

Click to view GalleryLet's start with the flash part. Step inside this Flex, and you'll immediately notice the black leather seats with slick-looking white Alcantara inserts. This particular model also featured lots of slick black trim pieces, most definitely a step up from the garden variety Flex. In addition to the optional features, the Titanium comes with a raft of standard equipment, including a navigation system with real-time traffic updates, Ford's Sync, Sony audio system, Sirius satellite radio, backup camera, and power adjustable pedals.

First Drive: Bowler Nemesis EXR

Check Dealer Pricing On a New Land Rover Range Rover Sport! Real World Tonka Toy Takes on the Big Guys November 02, 2010 / By Nick Hall | Tweet Click to view GalleryPorsche's Cayenne Turbo, BMW's X6M, and Mercedes' ML63 are a hit with buyers. They're big, comfortable, and most of all, fast. But they're in for a shock. There's a new kid in town, a true off-road super ute.

As I drift around a field for what feels like the 150th time, laughing like a maniac and plowing four huge ruts in the soil, it occurs to me that the Bowler Nemesis EXR might just be the most innovative supercar on the road. Or off it.

Click to view GalleryIndependent rally raider Drew Bowler's home-brewed creations were a constant thorn in the side of the works teams on the infamous Dakar Rally and other brutal long-distance rallies. Eventually fellow competitors asked him to build cars for them, and Bowler Offroad was born.

The Nemesis is the third race-bred model in the lineup, and the EXR is the company's first road car. And while it might look like a heavily modified Range Rover Sport upon which its loosely based, underneath it is nothing of the sort. That is clear the first time I fire up the 500-horsepower supercharged five-liter and fire the car down the field Drew has set aside for this unconventional test.

Click to view GalleryThe acceleration, even on this surface, is borderline insane. On tarmac it hits 62 mph in 3.9 seconds, just a couple of ticks behind the Lamborghini LP560-4. And even on this track it isn't much slower, as the 22-inch wheels find their footing and the blown V-8 slings roughly 3850 pounds of Spartan warrior towards the horizon. With 461 pound-feet of torque it really doesn't need the revs. Just plant the throttle and it takes off.

Stones hit the floor like a violent volleys of machine-gun fire, and the engine note roars around the cabin, which contains a dashboard, plush leather-trimmed race seats, and not much else. There's some prototype trim, and Bowler intends to offer any level of comfort, from a stripped weekend warrior on rally spec suspension to a fully appointed luxury car that sits more than 2 inches lower than the Rover Sport and comes replete with leather and aluminum and copious sound-deadening. It also comes with a lower-slung bodykit. All of those options add weight and slow the car down, though, and there's something deeply satisfying about this hooligan spec machine.

First Test: 2011 Buick Regal CXL Turbo

Check Dealer Pricing On a New Buick Regal! A Better Buick? Yes. A Real Sport Sedan? No. November 03, 2010 / By Carlos Lago / Photography by Motor Trend Staff, The Manufacturer | Tweet Click to view GalleryThe last time Buick turbocharged a Regal, it became a legend, an impossible act to follow. And yet, this new Regal CXL Turbo, with its European-bred poshness and tailoring, is the best new Buick in a long time, perhaps since the venerable Grand National. Today's Regal is attractive, reasonably priced to its competition, and at first glance, has an impressive list of equipment. But that's in the historical vacuum; against the rest of the world, most of the 2011 Regal turbo's performance doesn't pan out.

Click to view GalleryHere is a list of cars that are faster than the boosted Regal in ascending order of ridiculousness: Ford Taurus SEL, Honda Accord Crosstour, Toyota Sienna SE, Hummer H2. That's right: The last H2 we tested, the hulking, 6600-lb super-sized monstrosity of a thing, hit 60 mph in 7.1 seconds. The 2011 Regal, this Rebirth-of-Buick turbocharged one, does the same four-tenths of a second later.

Click to view GalleryOn paper at least, its turbo 2.0-liter inline-four is plenty adequate, producing 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. But the mill is saddled with 3773 pounds of car, which is blindingly apparent in the Regal's best quarter mile run, a 15.7-second pass at 92.8 mph. For comparison's sake, our Regal tester is 384 pounds heavier than the last four-cylinder Acura TSX we tested and 502 pounds heavier than the Volkswagen CC 2.0T.

Click to view GallerySpeaking of, how do the rest of the numbers stack up against the junior sport luxury segment? If you haven't guessed already, not well. Regardless of the powertrain, the Acura TSX and Volkswagen CC beat the Regal in a drag race. Actually, that's not true -- the TSX with the 201-horsepower, 2.4-liter four is a bit slower. It matches the Regal in the quarter mile.