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2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year entries announced

Over 40 vehicles will compete for the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards. If that name looks a little strange, it's because the competition added a third category. In years past, pickup trucks, crossovers, SUVs, commercial vans, and minivans competed for the same award. That's why there were occasionally weird comparisons, like last year's competition between the Volvo XC90 and Nissan Titan XD. The new format separates pickups and commercial vans into the truck contest and CUVs, SUVs, and minivans into the utility competition. A complete list of eligible vehicles is below, but here are a few highlights. For one, the entire list of entries has a luxurious lean. Of the 43 vehicles, nearly half of them are from premium brands. There are two eligible Bentleys – the Bentayga and Mulsanne – the Rolls-Royce Dawn, Jaguar F-Pace, Audi Q7, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-, E-, and S-Class Maybach. The performance ranks are lofty, too, with the Audi R8, Acura NSX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Mercedes SL- and SLC-Class, Porsche 718, and F-150 Raptor. The mainstream entries are just as comprehensive. From the Chrysler Pacifica to the Chevrolet Cruze to the Fiat 124 Spider to the Mitsubishi Mirage, NACTOY has covered an enormous price range with this year's contestants. Of course, these are only the eligible vehicles. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will announce this year's nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Cars Acura NSX Alfa Romeo Giulia Audi A4 Audi R8 Bentley Mulsanne Buick Cascada Buick LaCrosse Cadillac CT6 Chevrolet Bolt Chevrolet Cruze Fiat 124 Genesis G90 Hyundai Elantra Infiniti Q60 Jaguar XE Kia Cadenza Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Mercedes-Benz S550 Maybach Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Mercedes-Benz SLC-Class Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage/G4 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Rolls-Royce Dawn Toyota Prius Prime Volvo S90 SUVs Audi Q7 Bentley Bentayga Buick Envision Cadillac XT5 Chrysler Pacifica GMC Acadia Infiniti QX30 Kia Sportage Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class Jaguar F-Pace Mazda CX-9 Nissan Armada Trucks Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups Ford F-150 Raptor Honda Ridgeline Nissan Titan half-ton Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Bentayga View 23 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub.

Fiat reconsidering Mazda-based Alfa Romeo roadster? [w/poll]

Alfa giveth and Alfa taketh away. With apologies to Job (he has gone through a lot, after all), that's how things are looking at the Italian automaker - whether it's the promise of new products or its impending return to the North American market. But it's especially true when it comes to new roadsters.
While Alfa Romeo is expected to unveil the 4C Spider at the Geneva Motor Show this week, reports are now suggesting that its other roadster project is being called into question. That project is a joint venture between Fiat and Mazda, which was set to produce a version of its next MX-5 Miata as an Alfa Romeo, and was even changing the design to accommodate Alfa's requirements.
Now it appears, however, that the whole project in doubt. The problem seems to stem from Sergio Marchionne's pronouncements that, as long as he's in charge, there won't be an Alfa Romeo built outside of Italy.

Muhammad Ali's 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Series II is for sale

An Alfa Romeo was never in the plans. It was by accident that Muhammad Ali ended up bringing home this beautiful silver-on-black 1976 Spider Veloce Series II, but its interesting backstory only makes it more special. It's a story the car's next owner will surely need to memorize, as the car is currently listed on eBay for a Buy It Now price of $39,900 OBO. Found by Silodrome, the car is listed by Moto Exotica out of St. Louis, Missouri. According to Moto Exotica, which sources a clip from the book "Running with the Champ" by Ali's close friend and car guy Tim Shanahan, Ali had set out with Shanahan to buy a new Rolls-Royce (Ali loved his Double-Rs) during his time living in Chicago. The two visited European Imports in Lake Forest, Illinois, with the intention of buying a Kelly Green Corniche and possibly a Mercedes-Benz SL for Ali's wife, Veronica Porche. To Ali's dismay, the dealership did not have any SLs in stock, so this Alfa was suggested as an alternative. Ali purchased the car, brought it home, and ran into yet another issue. Porche did not know how to drive the car's manual transmission, and apparently didn't have any desire to learn. So the car mostly sat, with the exception of some rare errand runs by one of Ali's assistants. After a short time passed, Ali learned that Shanahan's personal car had broken down. In a situation that perhaps suggests destiny, Ali then gifted the car to Shanahan, who has owned the car for 40-plus years up until its sale to Moto Exotica. With about 80,000 miles, it has some wear and tear, such as a small crack on the dashboard, but it's in solid overall shape and recently received a respray. Plus it comes with the real registration with Ali's signature on it. Check out the full photos, video, and descriptive listing at Moto Exotica.