U.s. Old Car Thermostat. C1805335. Item: 3832 on 2040-parts.com

Ssangyong relaunches brand with Giugiaro-designed Korando

Korean brand Ssangyong is back from the dead. After looking odds-on favorite to become another automotive casualty of the global recession after Chinese owner SAIC put it into receivership in early 2009, the 4x4 specialist has found a new owner in 2010 – signing a memorandum of understanding with Indian company Mahindra & Mahindra in August – and has just re-launched its brand with a new car designed by Giugiaro. The fourth-generation Korando mid-sized crossover – prefaced by the C200 concept shown at the April 2009 Seoul motorshow – is due on sale in January 2011 pending the expected completion of the Mahindra deal in November this year.

Land Rover Freelander 2 hits 250,000. But is this the zenith?

250,000 Freelander 2s built It’s the car that started the whole compact SUV / softroader love affair back in 1997. Thankfully, the Freelander has come a long way since then, and the Land Rover Freelander 2 is a properly good car. So good is the Freelander 2 that Land Rover are celebrating the 250,000th Freelander 2 to roll off the production line today at Halewood.

Land Rover LR4s successfully cross America off-road

Land Rover Expedition America has just wrapped up its month-long trek across the United States, almost all of it off-road. A team of three Land Rover LR4s covered 4,000-plus miles from Asheville, N.C., to the Oregon coast, following an off-road route called the Trans-America Trail charted by motorcycle legend Sam Correro in the 1990s. No other production car is known to have ever completed this journey.