Our friend Mike Spinelli of 0-60 Magazine was able to catch this shot of a Nissan GT-R being towed by the NYPD. Normally, a NYPD tow truck is a regular sight in the streets of New York, as hundreds of cars get towed every day. But the GT-R has a very advanced all wheel drive system, and should, under no circumstances, be towed with two wheels on the ground.

An image from the GTR’s owners manual shows us just that: Not that the NYPD cares about damaging a car that’s parked illegally in the first place, but the owner may have some sort of claim against the city if the transmission is damaged as a result of the tow. The kicker to all this? A Fraternal Order of Police shield on the GTR’s window.

[Source: 0-60 and Jalopnik]

See the “how not to tow a GT-R” page of the Nissan GT-R manual after the jump:

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Chevrolet‘s Orlando compact van was spotted in China nearly uncovered, and looking very similar to the concept that debuted at the 2008 Paris Auto Show.

The Orlando doesn’t exactly break new ground in the looks department but its a sharp looking vehicle outside and the interior looks to be carried over from the Cruze compact.

While the Orlando won’t be sold in the United States, it’s expected to be a big player in world markets, where compact MPVs are a family vehicle of choice. Interestingly, the Orlando will be sold in Canada, where vehicles like the Mazda 5 and Kia Rondo do well, in light of Canadian car buyers’ affinity for small, fuel-efficient vehicles.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Renault is currently testing prototypes from their upcoming electric vehicle range in Israel, with a view to selling them in the country by next year.

The vehicles, known as the Renault Fluence Z.E. (for zero emissions), look just like normal Renault Fluence sedans, but run solely on electric power.

At first glance, Israel may seem like a strange place to focus EV efforts on, but it makes perfect sense upon closer examination. For starters, the, ahem, geopolitical concerns regarding the country and its petroleum-producing neighbors means that energy independence is crucial for the 7.3 million strong nation. With expensive gas and short driving distances (the entire country is about the size of New Jersey), Israel is also a great test bed for the Better Place battery-swapping stations invented in Israel in partnership with Renault.  For those not near a battery-swap station, charging can take as little as 30 minutes or as long as 8 hours depending on charging equipment.

Nissan‘s long-rumored Murano convertible is all but officially confirmed after the company presented it to dealers at their annual meeting in Las Vegas in August.

The Murano convertible will be offered as a two-door with a soft-top, reminiscent of other spectacular failures like the Toyota RAV4 convertible, Isuzu Amigo and Suzuki X90, all of which were offered as 2-door SUVs and were recieved like the plague in North America.

“It’s not going to be a volume car,” said Brian Carolin,Nissan North America Inc.’s senior vice president for sales and marketing. ”But there’s a degree of bravery for us to bring out a car like that right now. It will surprise a lot of people.”

The Murano is far from a bad vehicle as it is, but the idea of a convertible will undoubtedly polarize buyers into warring camps. On the other hand, Nissan’s Juke crossover is a visually unappealing vehicle that still performs admirably, and the Murano convertible could be a car-based alternative to vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler, which has an equal number of buyers interested in its beach-cruising capabilities rather than its off-roading.

[Source: Automotive News]

UAW President Bob King continued his asinine union politics by endorsing a measure that bans non-union foreign made cars from parking lots at UAW facilities.

The story came to the surface after a reporter from a Kansas City-area paper was told to move his Kentucky-built Toyota Camry off the property while visiting a Ford truck plant. An argument ensued, and King ended up writing a letter to the paper, stating “Buying a U.S./UAW vehicle makes a difference,” King wrote. “Foreign automakers accept U.S taxpayer’s dollars in incentives to build assembly plants in the United States, jeopardizing the future of middle-class workers in the domestic auto industry.”

If the UAW spent as much energy lobbying the Big Three management to build competitive vehicles as they did agitating for protectionist measures to incentivize the purchasing of domestic (and sometimes sub-par) vehicles, this whole situation could have been a moot point. Of course, plants owned by foreign automakers are also famously non-union, and have repeatedly failed to organize under the UAW banner.

[Source: Edmunds]

In what seems to be a never ending saga, it appears there might finally be some significant developments as it relates to Mahindra’s U.S. bound small pickup. According to some sources; the Environmental Protection Agency has finally given Mahindra the emissions certification required to sell its diesel engined TR series pickup Stateside for the 2011 model year.

It perhaps couldn’t come at a better time. Repeated delays over the vehicle’s launch date and mixed communications between Mahindra in India and it’s U.S. distributor Global Vehicles, have resulted in litigation proceedings being instigated, however with the EPA breakthrough, it looks like there might now be a ray of hope.

According to Max Butler, vice president of marketing with Global Vehicles USA, “we’re very excited about getting certification. Our dealers are excited as well. This is great news.”

Mahindra plans to offer the small truck in TR20 (two-door) and TR40 (crew cab) configurations. The trucks will be powered by a modified version of the ‘Hawk’ 2.2-liter in-line four-cylinder diesel, which will employ exhaust urea injection to help meet U.S. smog requirements. Estimates rate the pickup at a 1.3-ton hauling capacity and fuel mileage at close to 30 mpg. No word on official pricing yet, but it’s believed that when the trucks finally arrive, they will sticker in the $22,000 range.

[Source: Pickup trucks.com]

Scion‘s tC Coupe could see additional variants spun off from its platform, including a 5-door variant. The tC, which shares its platform with the Lexus HS250h and European-market Toyota Avensis, is available in sedan, wagon and hatchback variants throughout the world.

“This platform has plenty of flexibility to do more with,” Jack Hollis, Scion vice president-Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., told Ward’s Auto.  Hollis didn’t give detailed plans about a new tC variant but stated that a five-door tC is “possible”. Such a model would not be a stretch, as Toyota’s European-market Avensis sedan is already available in a five-door liftback, and would be a more traditional but quirky offering for Scion.

[Source: Ward's Auto]

Ken Block’s long awaited Part I of his Gymkhana 3 automotive acrobatics video is set to drop on Tuesday, much to the delight of drooling fanboys and Rally enthusiasts everywhere.

The third Gymkhana video will be the first Gymkhana where his Ford Fiesta will feature as the star car, rather than Block’s previous Subaru Impreza WRX STI hatchbacks. Block’s alliance with Ford, as well as his rising profile in XGames rally, should mean that the newest Gymkhana video will be the most elaborate yet. So far, Block has only released this teaser image, but in a mere 24 hours, we can expect all manner of controlled sliding and heavily edited driving shenanigans.

[Source: Inside Line]

British car maker Morgan, long known for its quirky, retro sports cars based around wooden frames, is propelling itself into the 21st century with two new sports cars, including a diesel-electric hybrid, a first for the fiercely traditional car maker.

Morgan designer Matt Humphries said that the vehicle would be called the LIFEcar 2 and have a range of more than 1000 miles.  Humphries also told Autocar that the second vehicle, which has not yet been named, would be a more extreme sports car. Morgan is set to  launch a version of the EvaGT show car that debuted at Pebble Beach last month that will look nearly identical to the concept. “We’ve got a reputation for translating show cars into road cars almost unchanged,” said Humphries. “That’s our plan for the EvaGT. It needs a high-level brake light at the rear, but that’s about all.”

Previous Morgan cars have been powered by antiquated powerplants and are known for their arcane driving experience, as well as the decades long waiting lists for these exclusive sports cars.

[Source: Autocar]

Some rides are better suited for your dogs than others. From your dog’s point of view, all they need is an open window to stick their head out of, but the American Automobile Association (AAA) has put a bit more thought into compiling their list of the best canine-friendly vehicles.

“More than 45 million households in the U.S. have a dog, and many are taking Fido along for the ride on a regular basis,” said John Nielsen, AAA National Director of Auto Repair and Buying Services. “There several vehicles with features that can help keep pets safe, comfortable and easy to clean-up after while also addressing other driver desires such as sportiness, adventure or luxury.”

In order to put together the most through list, AAA Auto Buying’s team of experts test drove and reviewed hundreds of vehicles. The list was based on a wide variety of factors such as crash test ratings, safety features, fuel economy, ease of animal ingress and egress, cargo area size, availability of tie-down hooks and easy-to-clean interiors.

Broken down into six categories, see the winners after the jump:

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