Chrysler has been known for organizing public participation events at various locations across the U.S. and Canada. Now it’s set to launch another, dubbed the Jeep Rocks & Road Tour, which will hit 11 different venues across the United States from July 16 through October 31st this year.

The tour is designed “to provide our current and potential customers with an adventurous experience that is exclusive to the Jeep brand,” according to Jeep CEO Mike Manley.

At each location, the tour will incorporate on and off-road driving tests, with participants getting time behind the wheel of 2011 Jeep models, including the Wrangler, Patriot and new Grand Cherokee. Trained instructors will be on hand for the off-road sections, which will including multiple types of road surfaces, rocky trails and log crossings. In addition to sampling the latest Jeep offerings, owners of existing models will also get a chance to drive their own vehicles at these events in the ‘Jeep Owner’s playground.’ The tour kicks off at the Syracuse, New York Nationals (one of the largest car shows in the North East) on July 16th, with stops in Columbus, Ohio; Rockford, Illinois; Indianapolis; Boston; Omaha, Nebraska; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Virgina Beach; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Charlotte, North Carolina and Fort Worth, Texas. The Jeep Rocks & Road tour is free to those that pre-register for the event, so long as they bring their receipt with them on the day.

For more information, including the exact venues for the tour, click on the link below.

[Source: Chrysler]

How do you celebrate a very special anniversary? Well, if you’re Chopard and Alfa Romeo, you commission a very special line of timepieces.

To mark their birthdays – 2010 sees Chopard celebrating 150 years and 100 years for Alfa Romeo – the two decided to join forces and to launch three new classic sport watches. And the two brands have an intertwined history together. For more than two decades, Chopard has had a strong presence in the World of Classic Racing, serving both as a sponsor and Official Timekeeper for the Mille Miglia race. It also turns out the Alfa Romeo’s cars have the honor of bringing in the most wins in this particular race, with a grand total of 11.

The anniversary line includes the GT XL Chrono Alfa Romeo and the Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo. The GT XL comes in stainless steel or black DLC-coated steel, while the Gran Turismo features a black dial with red hands and indexes as well as the logo of both brands. Both come equipped with COSC-certified in-house automatic movements, 46-hour power reserve, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, 44mm cases and Chopard’s signature vintage Dunlop-inspired rubber straps. Like any special occasion, these timepieces won’t last long. Only 500 of each of the three watches will be offered, along with a table clock in PVD-coated steel and a black leather, red-stitched case, and an additional travel alarm clock.

[Source: TeamSpeed]

Instead of adorning Mercedes-Benz‘s lovely SLS AMG with a traditional body kit full of lip spoilers, Hamann decided not to mess with the SLS AMG’s natural good looks, but rather bolt-on some larger components to make it stand out.

On all four corners are larger 21-inch Design Edition Race “Anodized” wheels with 9-inch width in the front and and 11-inch width in the rear. Hamann claims these wheels are “ultra light” sporting titanium wheel bolts and a matte black anodized finish to the face. They come mounted with 245/30/21 tires in the front and 295/25/21 tires in the rear for a measly $13,550. Yikes.

And if that wasn’t luxurious enough for you, you can lower your SLS AMG by 1.2-inches with Hamann’s suspension. And lastly is a stainless steel quad-tipped exhaust system for the awesome 6.2-liter V8.

We have to admit, that we’re torn. One one side we’re glad that Hamann didn’t come out with a styling package for the SLS AMG and ruin the design of the car. On the other hand, we’d like to see what a true Hamann SLS AMG would look like.

GALLERY: Hamann Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Check out the official press release after the break.

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The Test Drive video game/driving simulator series is quite possibly one of the oldest out there. Yes, long before Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport even existed; hell long before the original Playstation or Xbox were out there was Test Drive. It may not carry the same prestige as our console counterparts, but Test Drive Unlimited 2 is promising to deliver some groundbreaking virtual driving experiences.

So much like Mercedes-Benz is offering enthusiasts the ability to drive an SLS AMG virtually and in real life, the folks at Atari and Eden Games would like to get you behind the wheel of the Aston Martin One-77 supercar. But being the ultimate sports car from Aston Martin and a limited production of just 77, you’ll likely just have to settle for the virtual experience.

A trailer highlighting the Aston Martin One-77 in the upcoming Test Drive Unlimited 2 video game has just been released. It may not be the exact thrill we really want, but I guess we have to take what we can get. Besides, there’s probably a much better chance Test Drive Unlimited 2 comes out when they say it will in September of 2010.

[Source: TestDriveUnlimited2.com]

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Audi has sold its 2 millionth vehicle in the United States, an A3 TDI, to a first time buyer. The vehicle, sold by Keyes Audi in Van Nuys, California, was sold nearly 40 years after Audi first began selling cars in the United States.

Audi has managed to weather an unintended acceleration scandal similar to Toyota’s to become the best-selling luxury brand in Europe. To mark the occasion, Audi is asking enthusiasts to submit renderings of what vehicles will look like when Audi reaches 3 million sales.

We’re hoping that for better or worse, cars won’t be too different to what they resemble currently – or Audi will just have to sell that next million a lot quicker than they anticipate.

[Source: Audi]

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Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio, of MTV’s Jersey Shore reality show was spotted shopping for, what else, Lamborghinis in Las Vegas by celebrity gossip outlet TMZ.

Normally, Lamborghinis attract the “hairy chested, gold chain wearing” stereotype, but the immaculately waxed and tanned Pauly D has none to speak of. Despite his grooming habits, Pauly D reportedly requested a Spyder variant, to make room for his trademark “blowout” hair do.

In other news, mass suicides were reported across America when hard working men and women realized that the path to a Lamborghini is not an honest day’s work, but whoring yourself out on an MTV series, affecting the appearance of a lower-middle class uneducated Oompa-Loompa and contributing nothing to humanity.

[Source: TMZ.com]

Citroen has a serious problem with large sedans. Their C6, while gorgeous and a not entirely bad car, is selling slowly in the United Kingdom and other markets – and did we mention depreciation? A $58,000 C6 is between $16,000 and $20,000 after only four years!

This sends a pretty clear message that big Citroens are poison to most people. Obviously, these cars sell better in their home market of France, but the domestic arena is not the only one for Citroen.

But with their DS3 small car winning accolades all over Europe, Citroen is hoping to capitalize on its success, as well as the general affection that the public has for the old DS sedan, by bringing out the rumored DS9 large car.

Based on the Metropolis concept car, the DS9 would be a true flagship for Citroen, with a name evoking their most iconic model. Citroen is also looking to put the Survolt concept car into limited production, as well as creating a one-make racing series based around the car.

[Source: TopSpeed]

Corvette Racing’s Youtube series continues for yet another episode, but this time, goes behind the scenes to look at the logistics of bringing the team over to France, weeks ahead of the LeMans race, just to prepare for 24 hours of wheel to wheel action.

The most interesting aspect of the video is how things like food are dealt with by the team. Believe it or not, one of the staffers here has experience cooking for large groups of people at a summer camp, and it was one of the most demanding jobs on his resume (somewhere between automotive journalist and State Fair carny – but that’s another story). At a summer camp, the young campers are far less picky, but a race team is not only used to decent quality food (especially the mega-buck sponsors), but nutritional requirements are extremely important for the pro drivers, who operate like athletes of the highest caliber.

Along the way, we also see the drivers parade, the autograph sessions but no on-car action. Hopefully episode 8 will deliver the goods with a roaring V8 soundtrack and more exotic locales.

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The Ford Escape has been around for nearly a decade now, but it may live on even after it leaves the North American market. Reports say that Chinese automaker Jiangling will acquire the tooling for the first generation Ford Escape, which was sold in certain world markets as the Ford Maverick.

The rumors have appeared as Ford and Jiangling unveiled plans for new factories in China’s Xiaolan Economic Development Zone. The proposed plant would have the capacity for 170,000 vehicles per year.

Ford has yet to announce a replacement for the current Escape, but the model is scheduled to die in 2011.

[Source:  Left Lane News]

We’re sure that many of you lust after the new Porsche 911 GT2 RS, but chances are unless you’ve placed your order already, you’ll never get behind the wheel of one.

At the very least, Porsche has made a video that gives you a thorough walk-around of their new sports car, dubbed the fastest street legal Porsche of all time, with Andreas Preuninger, Manager of High Performance Vehicles for Porsche, explaining all the important details.

When all the technical details are hashed out, Preuninger takes the GT2 RS up the hill at Goodwood for some rear-engined, flat-six goodness.

[Source: GT Spirit]

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