Westin 40-0805 Sportsman 1-piece Grille Guard Fits Explorer Explorer Sport Trac on 2040-parts.com

Top 12 consumer car debuts at 2012 U.S. auto shows

The 2012 calendar year brought a lot of excitement in the automotive industry. Sales numbers show a gradual recovery, and pending federal fuel-efficiency requirements have fueled a slew of mainstream green technologies that don't dampen driving dynamics. Among the glitz of auto shows, some of our most memorable reveals from the year include such high-profile machines as the 2013 SRT Viper and Acura NSX concept.

Volkswagen CrossBlue Concept redesigned for LA Auto Show

Volkswagen has tweaked the CrossBlue Coupe Concept for the 2013 LA Auto Show after its appearance at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. The concept car itself is based on the CrossBlue three-row crossover concept that we saw at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and given Volkswagen's persistence with the concept and its favorable reception it seems like it may be headed for production in the not too distant future. Even though it appeared as a seven-seat crossover concept in Detroit, Volkswagen has apparently reconsidered the vehicle's size, and decided to target crossovers one size smaller in this iteration of the CrossBlue.

Wait, is the WhaleMobile still for sale?

In 2009 -- which is about 40 years ago in Internet time -- the motor-mad, mountain-dwelling master-mechanic known to Autoweek readers as Murilee Martin took to the pages of Jalopnik -- yes, it was printed back then -- to describe an ad he found on Craigslist. Here's the full text of the original ad: WhaleMobile *UNIQUE* This one of a kind "WhaleMobile" is for sale. It needs new tires, but otherwise starts right up and runs fine.