Autoweek in review: What you may have missed

It was a slower week in the newsroom as 2012 winded down. On Monday, we learned how motorcycles were coming back and got some ideas for last-minute holiday gifts. In the racing world, the Trans Am Series announced that it’s expanding the 2013 race schedule.

Autoweek announced the Best of the Best winners on Tuesday, while we also learned that plans for the Jagaur C-X75 supercar are being put on hold. Rubens Barrichello likely won’t return to IndyCar and we saw some new paint schemes for the 2013 NASCAR season.

On Wednesday, the Cadillac ATS earned a five-star crash rating from NHTSA, we celebrated 12-12-12 with our favorite V12 engines, and we got a sneak peak of the next-gen Acura MDX and BMW M6 Gran Coupe.

The 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra debuted on Thursday, before their launch at the Detroit auto show. Mercedes freshened up its E-class and F1-boss Bernie Ecclestone said the sport had too many teams.

The week wrapped up with Ford previewing it’s full-size Transit vans, Usain Bolt auctioning a specially commissioned Nissan GT-R and a list being released of 11 things you should never say at a NASCAR race.

Next week, we expect more Detroit auto-show news and more racing updates as the sport begins to wind back up for 2013.

By Jake Lingeman