(Toyota)

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick can be credited with making the saying "It is what it is," a common part of this region's speech pattern. The term also can be applied to Toyota's fifth generation 4Runner, which will be coming to a showroom near you in the next few weeks.

Rather than pitch the 4Runner as a car for the masses, Toyota's executives said it, er, "is what it is" - that being a capable off-road vehicle aimed at buyers who utilize the vehicle's "go anywhere" capabilities. It's also a niche vehicle: the company expects to sell about 35,000 in the coming model year in the US market and many more worldwide.

(All photos: Clifford Atiyeh/Boston.com)

WAREHAM – Jay Rogers isn’t sleeping until his car is ready.

It’s 8 p.m., less than 24 hours before the dune buggy prototype must ship off to Las Vegas for the country’s biggest aftermarket auto show next week, and the front end isn’t mounted yet. Mechanics scurry around the cramped garage space, revving drill bits and metal grinders as yellow sparks fly off the front bumper. The gutted interior won’t be finished, but Rogers, CEO of Local Motors and charged with refinishing the back bumper, keeps a calm, straight face.

It has taken just 14 months and about $2 million to transform a sketch – chosen from tens of thousands submitted to his website from across the world – into the Rally Fighter, an extreme off-roader built for high-speed dirt and sand racing. Rogers is targeting race teams that compete in endurance competitions like the Baja 1000 in Mexico, and other lunatics in the western states with $50,000 to spend on a lightweight, street-legal race car.

The first-ever finalists for the Internet Car and Truck of the Year awards have been selected for the last round of voting. A jury of 12 automotive writers on the web narrowed their car favorites to the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Mazda 3, and Shelby GT500, while choosing the Ford Raptor, Chevrolet Equinox, and Volvo XC60 as truck finalists.

Consumers who voted in the first round on internetcarandtruckoftheyear.com (don't paste that URL in Twitter) preferred the Audi Q7 TDI over the XC60 in the truck category, and liked the Ford Taurus SHO and Chevrolet Camaro SS over the Fusion Hybrid and Mazda 3. Nearly 10,000 votes were tallied.

"Voting by the jury of Internet automotive writers reflects respect for technology, innovation, and, of course, power while the consumers, or Average Joes, want power, power and more power," said Keith Griffin, the award's creator and vice president of the New England Motor Press Association.

Vote for your consumer favorites now through Nov. 13 at 5:00 p.m. and catch the winners, along with those chosen by the journalist jury, at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December.

(All photos except interior: Clifford Atiyeh/Boston.com)

What a rump on this one. And, I can't deny, I like how big it is on Ford's new Taurus.

Rear-end sizes don't come up often in car reviews, and when they do, they're usually not complimentary. BMW, which deflected rant after scathing rant of its "Bangle Butt" design on the previous-generation 7 Series, knows that pretty well. Critics, of course, make a living by complaining, and their ideal car doesn't exist.

In hip-hop music, rear-end references are as frequent as boasts of self-wealth (and maybe even more popular than breasts, but that's another debate). Ever since Sir Mix-A-Lot, rappers have made healthy livings by paying tribute to equally healthy behinds in song. Drake, in a line from the modern love ballad "Every Girl," brags about how his ideal lady "took her half an hour just to get that belt to fasten."

The 2010 Taurus has an abnormally huge rear for a full-size sedan, so big it took me several fearsome minutes to squeeze into my parents' garage, which swallows my mom's Volvo S80 without a hitch. I swore the garage door would bend and swell from the Ford's bulbous back end. With some disbelief, it closed.

The trunk lid — covering 20 cubic feet of storage with a four-inch wide blue oval stamped in the center — towers nearly 4 feet off the ground and cuts a sharp angle toward the oversize bumper, giving the impression of a thick beef slab. The raked rear glass is farther away still as it flows to slim side glass openings, expansive B-pillars, and a chest-high shoulder line. The 19-inch wheels — could they be anything less? — complete the car's heavy, substantial stature.

While looking like it may burst a few inseams and buttons, the Taurus is physically impressive and thoroughly imposing, just what a flagship sedan should be.

October is "car care month" as sanctioned by AAA, so who better to talk about it than AAA public affairs manager, ASE-certified technician, and resident "car doctor" John Paul? He's here at noon to offer maintenance tips and answer just about anything related to four wheels.

By Keith Griffin, Boston.com Correspondent

NEW YORK—Normally, one of the best jobs in the world has to be Bentley's US president and COO. That is, unless you are Christophe Georges on a Thursday morning in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and your company's new car petulantly refuses to come off the car carrier.

Such was the case as Georges, who works out of Bentley's Boston office, stood before a gathering of automotive media to make the Northeast introduction of the 2011 Bentley Mulsanne, the latest entry to the ultra-high luxury segment that is populated solely by the likes of Rolls Royce and Maybach.

"The challenge for me is I was supposed to show you a new car," Georges said. "This is only the seventh car made. These things are going to happen."

Miscues aside, the Mulsanne is a fine compilation of craftsmanship. "This car is totally consistent with our values, Bentley's DNA," he said. "This is our interpretation of the best car in the world."

(Hyundai)

More than six months have passed since Hyundai began selling its Genesis Coupe in the US, yet no one has taken a serious crack at modifying this Korean "ponycar" to the hilt.

But with the Specialty Equipment Market Association show less than two weeks away, there's now a sufficiently outrageous example from drift racer Rhys Millen.

The RMR R460, developed by Millen's aftermarket tuning company Rhys Millen Racing, scraps Hyundai's balanced rear-wheel drive layout and dumps a higher-compression version of the Genesis sedan's 4.6 liter V-8 in the hatch. This is a legitimate mid-engine configuration that, without turbochargers, produces a stout 500 horsepower.

New Zealand-born Millen, the nephew of IMSA driver Steve Millen, competes in the nascent Formula Drift series and did wheelman duty for car movies like "The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" and "The Dukes of Hazzard" remake. He's logged plenty of hours in the Red Bull Racing Genesis Coupe drift car, including a record 12 minute, 9 second time at this year's Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Along with a lowered body, 20-inch wheels, covered grill, and three huge air intakes is a sequential 5-speed manual built to withstand the hefty burnouts Millen requires on the job.

StopTech brakes replace the factory Brembos, and a custom carbon-fiber hatch and minor suspension reworking complete the details. Hyundai says this super Genesis is good for 182 miles per hour.

"Millen was drawn to the design similarities between the Genesis Coupe and the new Ferrari 599XX, which influenced the vehicle’s classic low profile and race-inspired look," according to a press release from Hyundai.

We're not sold on that description, but this mid-engined Hyundai &mdash whether it's for sale or not — should do plenty for the company's blossoming ego.

(Clifford Atiyeh/Boston.com)

A 1960s-era Volvo 122 wagon sits among dozens of other Volvos and Saabs at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline on Sunday.

BROOKLINE—Even in the biting swirl of cold rain and wind, Peter Maitland was certain the Saab faithful would show up on the drenched, soupy lawn of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum with their cars. For what were they, Volvo owners?

"More likely you get Saab people at an event like this, in this kind of weather," Maitland said, his 1968 Saab 95 station wagon behind him in the muck.

"There's a lot of people who just have Volvos," he said. "Most Saab people tend to know a lot more about their car and its heritage than most Volvo people."

But whether Volvo or Saab devotee, the crowd that gathered outside and within the museum were busy gawking and swapping car stories rather than debating a favorite brand.

(All photos: Gerry Miles/Boston.com)

By Gerry Miles, Boston.com Correspondent

If it's true that the more things change, the more they stay the same, then one might proffer the Mazda Miata as evidence that supports the cliché.

At first blush, they might be right. And then, again, they'd be wrong.

It's still a snappy, true two-seat drop-top decompression machine that often leaves as much of a grin on the faces of those admiring the ride as those behind the wheel.

It still has a trunk, tall-backed bucket seats, surprisingly good leg room, a spunky little 2.0-liter 167 horsepower I-4 mated to a slick, short-throw stick shift and a rewarding exhaust note that reminds us that having fun behind the wheel can be found at the posted limit, even with nowhere in particular to go.

(All photos: Bill Griffith/Boston.com)

MALCESINE, ITALY — Stumbling across a car show in a foreign country is a treat. It gives you a look at many of the vehicles that used to grace the local roads, plus a look at what others are collecting.

We were enjoying a weekend in town, about 80 miles northeast of Milan, drawn by the downhill mountain biking and Malcesine's annual Ciottolando con Gusto gourmet tour of the town. For dessert, we got the accompanying annual veterans car club show and rally (actually a parade).

The town parking lot, packed with vans and tents for a Saturday outdoor market, emptied out. At midnight, it was still full of revelers at the Ciottolando Festival. By 8 a.m. it was totally empty, soon to fill with vintage vehicles.

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

This, really, is how all Ford Crown Victorias should be retired.

Residents in Damariscotta, Maine, observed the splattered carnage of a 650-pound pumpkin after it fell 200 feet on top of a town police cruiser. And it wasn't the last pumpkin missile to hit the old Vic, either (more pumpkin smashing in this photo gallery).

(Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

By Glenn Gould, Boston.com Correspondent

The view high above the Staples headquarters parking lot in Framingham was fantastic. But why was I hovering over the parking lot in a boom truck bucket in the first place? Well, as the operator started to give me a fast 360 degree twirl I too wondered this.

This particular Eaton bucket truck was a hybrid vehicle, part of a lineup of alternative fuel vehicles designed for commercial fleets.

Admittedly, I am not a commercial fleet owner nor do I plan to be one. So, from my bird's eye view of the assembled vehicles I chose two familiar looking Mercedes-Benz vehicles to look at.

(Bill Polo/Globe File Photo, 2001)

Very few people have seen a McLaren F1 up close outside a magazine. Even those of us who caught Ralph Lauren's silver example at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts auto exhibition four years ago couldn't see the gold leaf under the engine lid, or contemplate what a resting 250-mph speedometer would look like slammed to the max.

Thanks to mega dealer Herb Chambers, who has a 1995 F1 in his exotic and classic car collection, car enthusiasts can see this supercar very close, and sip some hot brew while they're at it.

As a marketing effort to introduce his 46th dealership in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island area, BMW of Sudbury, Herb Chambers is launching the first of what he hopes will be a monthly gathering of "cars and coffee." It's an early morning, no-reservation auto event for cars and motorcycles of any kind (no model discrimination, but preferably not your 1991 Tercel).

Join Herb and whomever shows up (there should be enough, given the McLaren alone) from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Bimmer parking lot on 128 Boston Post Rd. Even though the Bugatti Veyron demolished his F1's once-record 240 mph top speed, there's nothing like a little McLaren in the morning.

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

Strolling amidst the alternative energy vehicles on display yesterday at the fifth AltWheels Fleet Day exposition in Framingham, Staples Inc. fleet equipment manager Michael C. Payette almost immediately started talking trash.

As Peterbilt district sales manager Bob Moreau explained, the trash hauler uses a “hydraulic launch assist” system. It stores pressure when the brakes are applied, then uses that force to propel the truck forward. In a truck that starts and stops constantly - up to 1,200 times a day - that conserves a lot of gas.

“You're saving two brake jobs a year,” Moreau said, “and [up to] 25 percent of the fuel.”

Also on display were more than 50 cars and trucks, many powered by electricity, compressed natural gas, or lithium-ion batteries.

We've all witnessed terrible parking. Parallel parking so atrocious that passengers need a taxi to the curb, cars angled way further than the painted angles on the street, bumper bashing, and just plain bad depth perception.

Even in an era of bumper-mounted sensors and backup cameras — heck, some Toyotas and Fords park themselves — bad parkers won't ever stop making passersby chuckle. Unless, of course, it's your car they're parked next to.

In that case, Shinebox Print, a small design studio in Arizona, has an elegant, $6.95 solution: 20 cleverly-worded, poster-worthy note cards to stick on the offender's windshield or dash.

"Armed with this bad boy, you can now let your enemies know exactly how you feel about their crappy parking," the website says. Indeed, some are so cheeky that you may want to keep an eye on your ride in case the other guy gets a tantrum.

Not recommended for use in South Boston.

(Toyota)

Toyota issued this illustration showing correct floor mat installation in a press release yesterday.

Hundreds of published reports yesterday claimed Toyota had already issued a recall to address the possibility of accelerator pedals getting jammed under factory floor mats, but the company fired back in an e-mail this morning stating yesterday's notice was nothing more than a safety advisory.

"Despite widespread reporting to the contrary, this is not yet a recall," wrote Toyota northeast PR manager Wade Hoyt. Hoyt said to the Globe this morning that "it wouldn't be a recall until we've worked out a fix that NHTSA approves."

Hoyt said it is likely a recall will be issued, but could not confirm a date or exactly how many cars would be included.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report yesterday warning that improperly positioned floor mats on certain Toyota models could cause the gas pedal to become stuck in full throttle.

The agency recommended that these owners "immediately" remove the driver's side factory floor mat as an "interim safety measure." All told, the agency has received 102 incident reports from owners "in which the accelerator may have become stuck," according to the Associated Press.

"Until Toyota can implement a remedy, it is asking consumers and associates who drive specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat," Toyota said yesterday.

About 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus models are affected, including the 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2007-2010 ES 350, and the 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350.

Toyota engineers are currently working on a fix "besides the retaining hooks" that secure the mats to the floor, Hoyt said. Part of the problem, Hoyt said, is that owners may remove the mats for cleaning and put them back unsecured, or place rubber winter mats, which are much thicker than carpeted mats, on top of the standard ones.

According to the NHTSA, Toyota issued a recall for similar accelerator concerns in September 2007 for rubber "all-weather" floor mats it sold as accessories for 2007 and 2008 Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry models.

A fatal crash last month in San Diego in which a 2009 ES 350 was speeding out of control at more than 100 mph may have been due to a stuck accelerator, officials say, but the crash remains under investigation.

Floor mats in approximately 3.8 million Toyota vehicles could cause accelerator pedals to become stuck in full throttle, potentially causing a crash or death, the federal government and Toyota said today.

While not an official recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommended that drivers "immediately" remove the driver's side factory floor mat as an "interim safety measure."

"Until Toyota can implement a remedy, it is asking consumers and associates who drive specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat," the company said in an e-mail this afternoon. Floor mats could potentially jam under the gas pedal if they are positioned incorrectly, turned over, or loose.

The affected models are the 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2007-2010 ES 350, and the 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350. Toyota said it plans to conduct an actual recall.

(All photos: Clifford Atiyeh/Boston.com)

Like its parent Hyundai, Kia just gets more and more proud of itself. Its budget lineup undercuts nearly every segment by a few hundred to a few grand, offers lots of equipment, and stands by an industry-leading warranty. Kia's August sales of 40,198 — a whopping year-over-year increase of 60 percent — would have any manufacturer feeling cocky in a recession.

The company's confidence, months after hip, rollicking hamsters debuted the Korean challenge to Scion, the Soul, is obvious in commercials for its new Forte sedan. "The first of its kind," the company proclaims, in reference to the car's lengthy list of standard features. If that's true, then the four-speed automatic on our Forte 2.0 EX tester is most certainly the last.

My daughter Sara, who lives with her husband Stefano in Milan, is pictured above next to a Ferrari Enzo casually parked by a restaurant in a small Italian town. After taking a cell phone photo of Sara near the Enzo, a waiter comes running out saying, "Sir do you need your keys?"

The temptation must have been great...

(All photos: Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times/Zimmer)

Unless you're riding to the airport, a wedding, or trying to get sex on prom night, let's face it, you've forgotten all about the Lincoln Town Car. Even most of the car's geriatric admirers have moved on to smaller Hyundais, Scions, and Camrys, some of which make more horsepower with six cylinders than the Lincoln squeezes out with eight.

The big Lincoln's body-on-frame construction, flat, planar dash, and waterbed suspension hark back to the Blaxploitation cinema era — when "Superfly" star Ron O'Neal and "Dolemite" Rudy Ray Moore ruled the streets with monster, square-jawed, utterly pimp American luxury cars. The American public was similarly sold on them. Today, it's hard enough for Lincoln to get a word in edgewise among a packed luxury segment dominated by imports.

But the bygone era of fully-kitted American pimpmobiles hasn't dimmed the colors on Arthur Zimmer's bright sports blazers as he poses in several photos of what look like replica Model J Dusenbergs or Auburn Speedsters. That's because Zimmer, 71, builds and sells the fanciest, rarest, and most expensive Town Cars on the planet.

(Mazda)

Mazda today said it would begin selling its redesigned 2 hatchback in the US and Canada by the end of 2010, the latest of several European and Japanese subcompacts finally taking a stake in the American market.

“You’ve asked us for it for a while now, and we’ve been studying the market to make sure we can make a business case for it across North America,” said Mazda's North American president Jim O’Sullivan to a dealer conference today. “As consumers’ tastes and attitudes toward small vehicles have changed, we now believe strongly there is a place in our lineup for a car below our current least-expensive car, the Mazda 3."

The Mazda 2, based off the Ford Fiesta which is also coming to the US next year as a 2011 model, has been on sale in Europe since 2007 (and has a longer history in Japan, where it's known as the Demio). The latest version, which debuted next to the Fiesta 3- and 5-door models at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show, offers a choice of 1.3 and 1.5 liter four-cylinder engines, plus a 1.4 liter turbodiesel. We'll see the US version at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in December, and expect the US to get the 1.5 liter, which is good for 102 horsepower.

Small cars have typically bombed with the American public during long waves of cheaper gas prices, but the market is growing fast. Also next year, Chevrolet plans to introduce its Spark subcompact and Chrysler is intent on selling the Fiat 500 (as a Fiat) at its US dealers.

We've already got the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube, and Daimler's (struggling) Smart brand. So will Mercedes bring over its A- and B-Class cars, BMW its 3- and 5-door 1 Series, Volkswagen its Polo? Don't bet against it.

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Keith Griffin, About.com's used car expert, may not have P. Diddy's grandiose marketing budget behind his push for a car and truck of the year award chosen exclusively by the Internet. But Griffin's get-out-the-vote message for consumers to voice their choices on the year's best models — much like Diddy's national youth tour during the 2004 presidential election — is equally as grassroots, yet completely free of awful rhyming, cheap cologne, and rap group upstarts.

Griffin picked 12 online automotive journalists, including Boston.com's "car doctor" John Paul, as jurors to vote on semi-finalists. Unlike every other automotive media award, the Internet and only the Internet will decide the winners.

Head over to www.internetcarandtruckoftheyear.com and vote for the finalists through Oct. 16. The finalists will be subject to another round of voting on Oct. 19, with the winner decided in November. Awards will be presented in real life, likely at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.

And in case you don't vote or forget, we've let Diddy know all about it.

(All photos: Local Motors)

Wareham-based Local Motors, the start-up Massachusetts automaker behind the Rally Fighter dune racer, has revealed an all-electric hatchback concept that will be begin production in San Francisco within the next two to three years, the company said today.

The four-seat Ethylik, penned by 21-year-old French design student Ugo Spagnolo, is a hyper-aggressive styling exercise on the European hot hatch theme, to which the Ford Focus RS and mid-engined Renault Clio V-6 have become worthy legends.

Specifications are, at this point, speculations. Will there be an electric motor at every wheel to match the car's wild looks, like on the insane Mini QED concept? Or a tamer lithium-ion pack supported by a gas engine, like the Chevrolet Volt?

"We haven't set our hearts on one yet," said lead engineer Mike Pisani, noting that "battery technology could change dramatically" by the time the Ethylik debuts.

(All photos: Bill Griffith/Boston.com)

We come to praise a Pontiac today, not to write its obituary.

The car in question is the 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP, one of the most unique vehicles we've driven. It's a two-seat, rear-wheel drive coupe version (with removable roof) of the Solstice roadster. To say it has style is an understatement.

Add in a few facts of automotive life in 2009 and the GXP acquires more of a mystique:

1. It's been discontinued, a victim of the worldwide auto crisis that claimed General Motors' Pontiac Division.
2. Before production was stopped, only about 1,200 were built. That number, combined with the quality of the car and desirability of the coupe version, guarantees that this vehicle will become a collector's item.
3. That's reaffirmed by the driving experience. The Solstice GXP rates a place on the list of certified "head-turners" we've driven. In addition, its 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine has all the pop needed to make it a fun ride. Once, dual exhausts were a sign there was a V-8 under the hood. Now we have a set of polished exhaust tips on a four-banger. Have to say they sound nice, too.

We had the opportunity to drive the GXP both with a five-speed manual and five-speed automatic. Normally, I automatically opt for the manual (sorry about the bad pun). But the Solstice just works better with the automatic.

(Daimler)

In the United States, the Mercedes-built Sprinter has been marketed as the Dodge Sprinter. But not for much longer.

Now that Fiat has replaced Mercedes-Benz as a Chrysler owner, the Sprinter is moving back into the Mercedes lineup.

You have to wonder whether Mercedes will put the famed three-star emblem on the US-spec Sprinter – fearing some dilution of the brand’s image? – or keep selling it through its heavy-duty subsidiary Freightliner.