Nissan Titan '05-09 3 Gauge A Pillar Pod Gray on 2040-parts.com

Grand National Roadster Show takes on new judging rules, rodding wins

Daryl Wolfswinkel's 1934 Ford, built by Doug Jerger of Squeeg's Kustoms in Chandler, Ariz., won the title America's Most Beautiful Roadster on Sunday at the Grand National Roadster Show at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. That in itself was not necessarily the biggest news out of Pomona last weekend, however. In a hobby/passion/love affair such as hot-rodding, you'd expect a '32, '33 or '34 Ford to win.

Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake on the way

Mercedes’ design boss Gordon Wagener has revealed to WhatCar that they are planning to go exactly the same route with the CLA as they did with the CLS, and create a coupe estate. The CLS Shooting Brake (pictured below) has been very well received, and with much of the world downsizing its cars a CLA Estate is a very sensible way to go, offering all the good design elements of the CLA – which already looks like a CLS on a boil wash – in a car that has more practicality. Wagener gave no idea of time scale for the CLA Shooting Brake, but with the first CLAs expected to hit customers in June it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a concept CLA Shooting Brake arrive by the time of the Frankfurt Motor Show in September before going on sale in 2014.

Jeep uncovers the 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT8 packing 465 hp

Following a one-year hiatus, Jeep is returning the fire-breathing Grand Cherokee SRT8 to the lineup for 2012, which made its world debut at the New York Auto Show. Central to the changes is a new 6.4-liter Hemi V8 engine producing 465 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque--a 45-hp and 45-lb-ft improvement over the outgoing 6.1-liter unit. Jeep says the SRT8 is good to hit 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, cover the quarter-mile in the mid-13-second range and reach a top speed of 155 mph.