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Even though they already dropped the press shots of the 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse and Spyder, the cars are making their official debut here at Chicago. Mitsubishi looked to borrow some mojo from past Eclipse models as they included previous versions in their display. The upgrades to the new version are largely cosmetic, thought they did see fit squeeze an additional two ponies out the power plant. Included in the deal are"Jet fighter grill", added traction control, new 18" wheels, dual outlet exhaust, Spyder gets standard heated seats, yada, yada, yada. Hey look, pictures. galleryPost('eclipse09', 3, '2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Unveiled');galleryPost('spyder09', 3, '2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder');galleryPost('spyderint', 3, '2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Interior'); galleryPost('09eclipse', 4, '2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Press Photos');
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We don't remember seeing this at SEMA, because if we had, we would have made fun of it there as well. Nonetheless, the placard claims this Toyota Corolla SE Prototype was first shown at the infamous tuner show, and we claim it was first seen somewhere in a Ford studio run by Dave "Big Balls" Horbury. Seriously -- check out that grille, somebody falling in love with the Ford Fusion much? Perhaps this is a new salvo in a developing grille wars. Whatever. We feel like maybe we should be on the look out for a restyled Ford Taurus sporting a Klingon forehead grille. galleryPost('protocorolla', 6, 'Toyota Corolla SE Prototype Has The Wendys Flavor');
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Hot on the heels of the 2008 BMW M3 release, those rascally Germans have developed a racing variant to further develop the incredible tech already present in the stock automobile. In 2009 BMW will return to racing with team Rahal Letterman Racing in the American Lemans Series. We'll be bringing more details and pics (got em!) after we recover from the heart attack and can dig up a press release. galleryPost('rahalm3', 12, 'Rahal Letterman Racing BMW M3');
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We saw the first two versions of the 2009 Ford Transit Connect a little earlier, but now we've seen 'em up close and personal. Four differently outfitted models of the light duty van were shown off in an effort to showcase the vans versatility. The first two we saw were dressed up for a wine delivery company and a traveling jazz band; the other two examples are done up for a connectivity company and a catering service. While not options offered from Ford, these Transit Connects offer different looks at the flexible ways the little vans can be equipped. And we did see a feature we've been pining for. galleryPost('09transitlive', 12, '2009 Ford Transit Connects All Over the Place'); The Ford Transit Connect will be available with front window defrost, by way of embedded hot wire filaments. you can get an idea of what the fine, wavy wires look like below. Ford also indicated the option may appear in other models, depending on the public reception. Barely perceptible...
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Those darn kids are always leaving stuff laying around - like 2009 Ford Transit Connects that aren't supposed to be free to see for another couple hours. We've heard they are bringing four different varieties of customized to show off here in Chicago and it looks like we're seeing two of them here. One appears to be some sort of wine and or food based delivery truck. The other is a decidedly more hip and musically focused custom. It looks decidedly jazzy and thankfully un-hip-hop related. Definitely dressed up compared to the bland whiteness of the press shots of the Transit Connect from last night. Guess we'll get the full story in a bit. galleryPost('doanefordtransitconnectprereveal', 3, '2009 Ford Transit Connects Bare All'); galleryPost('transitcon', 6, 'Ford Transit Connect'); Photos by Chris Doane
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Ford is working towards a new objective with it's "Work Solutions" package. Instead of simply providing customers with four wheels, a motor and maybe even a chassis, Ford wants to develop what they're calling "solutions." Yes, that certainly sounds like something that came straight from an MBA program someplace, and we're generally dogged cynics when it comes to such claptrap. But this here "solution" is actually pretty darn neat. Ford has teamed with Microsoft (yet again--hello, Sync fans) to create new hardware and software for contractors to use to manage work sites. The system begins with RF tags you can add to any tool--hammer, screwdriver, level, circular saw, all the contractor doo-dads you can imagine--then adds bed scanners that detect the presence of those RF tags. The system can tell you before you leave a work site whether or not you've left something behind. Add to useful feature a few others: the ability to surf the net anywhere...
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Even though we got a sneak peak at it during the Showlopnik coverage, Ford has officially dropped the pics for it's Transit Connect on us. Now, it doesn't look a heck of a lot different then the Euro model, but there are some differences. True, it will be built in the same plant and Turkey, and it will still be based on a front wheel drive four cylinder platform, there will not be a diesel version available - yet. Indeed, Ford will be bringing only a four pot gasser to the US market and mating it to a four speed auto. Though at a press event, they didn't deny there was a possibility of an oil burner if the market demands it. galleryPost('transitcon', 6, 'Ford Transit Connect'); All we know is that would make a perfect transit for either a Nash Metropolitan drag racer or a couple of well built supercross motorcycles. For some reason, Ford does not plan on showing versions outfitted as such. This calls into question the junkyard scrapper version and the livin'...
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Ford is working towards a new objective with it's "Work Solutions" package. Instead of just providing four wheels and a motor, Ford is aiming at providing what they term as 'solutions' for their customers. We're generally dogged cynics when it comes to talk like that, but this option generally is pretty darn neat. Ford has teamed with Microsoft yet again for new and improved hardware and software to manage a contractors work site. The system begins with RF tags you can add to any tool, then adds bed scanners that detect the presence of those RF tags, then the system can tell you before you leave a work site whether or not you've left something behind. Add to this the ability to surf the net anywhere with integrated wimax hardware by Sprint, and a vaguely UPS like "Crew Chief" system which combines GPS with the tool sensing to determine the best crew to do a job at any given call. Of course, this is all targeted at Ford's commercial customers,...
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