Finalists for the North American Car and Truck of the Year have been announced, with Chrysler dominating the truck field, and electric vehicles comprising 2/3rds of the car category.

The Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee, both built on the same platform, were nominated in the truck category, as well as the re-designed Ford Explorer.

In the car segment, both the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are nominated, with the Hyundai Sonata 2.0T as the lone traditional car.

The jury deciding on the awards is made up for 49 journalists from the United States and Canada. 50 vehicles are sampled, while only 14 make it to the second round.

Cars of the stars can often surprise you. On the one hand there are some celebrities who love flash, while others prefer more nondescript means of transportation.

John Lennon, who died 30 years ago this past week, was famously known to have owned a psychedelic painted Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine, but during his final years, he and wife Yoko Ono tooled around in this rather anonymous, green 1972 Chrysler Town & Country Station Wagon.

Battered and bruised from a life on Manhattan streets, the car was sold by Yoko after John’s death and since 1996 it’s had just a single owner. However, now that Lennon has been thrust into the spotlight once again, the car has come out of obscurity, to be auctioned by Braswell Galleries in New England. The Town & Country is essentially in the same condition it likely was when John and Yoko owned it and the seller still has the original New York State title and registration documents.

If John had lived, it’s likely this car would have less significance, excerpts from his personal memoirs indicate he and Yoko were looking at replacing it with a then new Mercedes-Benz W123 300 Touring.

Hit the link below for more info and to see how you can own this piece of automotive and music history.

[Source: Braswell Galleries]

Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos are a lot of sound and fury but ultimately signify nothing. A combination of great editing, a specially prepared car and an unrivaled hype machine has propelled Block to the top of the Youtube heap. But his newest video, barely 2 minutes in length, is genuinely awesome.

Piloting a 1978 Ford Escort through an upstate New York rally course, the video is unfortunately brief but manages to dose you with just enough vintage rally goodness to keep you satiated. Check it out below, after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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An investigation and eventually a recall on snapping rear axles on Ford’s Windstar minivan wasn’t enough to save the life of Sean Bowman of Massachussetts. A 28 year-old father of two and Coast Guard veteran, Bowman’s family received an official recall notice in the mail from Ford a week after the he had died in a crash behind the wheel of his Windstar – an accident his family alleges was the direct result of a rear axle that snapped while Bowman was on his way to community college.

Bowman’s family is considering legal action against Ford, stating that the severity of the recall demanded more immediate action. “This is not your average, everyday recall. This is your rear axle can break, you can lose control of your vehicle, your wheels can fall off,” Bowman’s wife told The Associated Press.

Ford says that it fulfilled its legal requirement by notifying customers with vehicles affected by the recall.

After the story of Bowman’s death broke, Ford announced it would expand the recall to an additional 37,000 Windstar minivans, bringing the recall total to 612,000. The initial recall was only for vans in certain colder states where it was deemed corrosion was a factor in the snapping axles. The expanded recall now includes all 2003 vehicles and also now encompasses the state of Utah.

The recall itself has been a significant problem for Ford, as new axles had to be manufactured, causing a long wait for owners. As a result, Ford offered to either pay for rental vehicles for customers with affected vehicles, or to even buy back the minivans. The latter choice is proving the more cost effective for Ford, with most of the vans now quite old and their value quite low. Some customers waiting for the repair have had their vehicles parked on Ford dealer lots for over four moths.

Ford may face increasing threats of legal action over this issue, as there is likely to be a high number of recalled vehicles on the road that remain unrepaired. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 70 percent of recalled vehicles are repaired within the first 18 months, however, that number is generally much lower when recalls are issued for older vehicles.

[Source: NPR]

UPDATE: The Ford Windstar is now under investigation by NHTSA for rusting subframe issues. Click here to read the story.

The 1999 and 2000 Honda Civic Si (known as the SiR in Canada) have been named as Canada’s most stolen cars, with the 2000 model taking the top spot, and the 1999 following it.

Previous years have seen the Subaru Impreza WRX, Acura Integra GSR and Integra Type R claim the title, but the Civic Si, with its twincam VTEC motor, was built in substantial numbers and has proved to be an attractive target for thieves. The Cadillac Escalade, Acura RSX Type-S, Acura Integra, the “Audi Quattro sedan” (we assume they mean the Audi A4) and the Hummer H2 round out the top 10.

Canadian auto theft is split roughly between chop shops looking to sell desirable parts and organized crime rings, who take vehicles and ship them to overseas locations where they are re-sold.

[Source: CBC]

It was a near certainty and now Chrysler has confirmed it: the SRT8s are coming. Sources inside the automaker have said the new SRT8s are currently in the works, meaning we should seem them soon.

No specifics have been given on what models will get the SRT8 treatment, but considering Chrysler’s past we can all but guarantee an SRT8 Dodge Charger, as well as a Jeep SRT8. While Chrysler is eager to position the new 2011 300 model as more of a luxury car than a performance car, it’s likely to get the big V8 too. Another possibility includes the new Durango SUV.

Like the already released 2011 Challenger SRT8 392, all models should get close to 470-hp and 470 ft-lbs of torque using a new 6.4-liter V8 engine. Also look for larger wheels, lower and stiffer suspensions, custom bodywork, upgraded brakes and some interior trim changes. It’s not yet clear if the new SRT8s will get Chrysler’s upcoming 8-speed automatic, but that would certainly help deliver some even more impressive performance without the tremendously bad fuel economy we’re used to.

[Source: Automobile Magazine]

The Christmas crunch is on, and if you’re still looking for a few more gifts to fill up your Santa sack, may we suggest the first Pagani Automobili Official Monograph.

A book you’ll never want to put down, the Pagani Automobili Official Monograph is stunning and huge, and covers the complete, rich history of Mr. Horacio Pagani and his creation, the Zonda. Its 228 full color pages cover the supercar’s inception right up to present day, from its beginnings to recent innovations. It also features complete technical data, breathtaking images and some fun facts you probably didn’t know.

You can order the Pagani Automobili Official Monograph at http://www.edizioniarteimmagine.it/.

[Source: Pagani]

If you own a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Caravan, you may want to keep an eye on your mail come February. That’s when Chrysler will begin notifying some 367,000 minivan owners about a recall that involves unwanted airbag deployment.

A water leak caused by an improperly applied HVAC hose grommet can cause water to drip into the airbag module, triggering a warning light, or an unplanned airbag firing. Chrysler will begin fixing the issue at no charge starting in February 2011.

[Source: Reuters]

As previously rumored, Mercedes will bring to market an ultra high-performance version of it’s upcoming C-Class Coupe, which is expected to debut at the Detroit Auto Show this January.

Early reports had indicated that a C63 version would use the 6.2-liter V8 that Mercedes is currently decommissioning, but that seems unlikely. Instead, it should get the new twin-turbo 4.7-liter that makes 435-hp. As for the Black Series model, it will come with the new twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 that makes as much as 563-hp.

InsideLine reports that the vehicle was confirmed by an unnamed Mercedes exec, who described it as an M3 killer.

[Source: InsideLine on Twitter]

While the upcoming Lotus Esprit has been announced using a supercharged version of the Lexus IS-F’s 5.0-liter V8, that may all change when the new high-powered exotic comes to market in 2012.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, in an interview with AutoCar, commented that the storied British sports car maker is now examining the possibility of building its own V8. “The engine is the heart of a sports car; we should do our own product,” said Bahar.

One of the main factors in pushing Lotus towards this decision was customer feedback. “In the mind of sports-car enthusiasts, Toyota power might not be good enough,” he admitted.

Still, Lotus has yet to move ahead with a costly engine development program and won’t make any decision on if it will do so until January with Bahar commenting that the decision would be purely financial.

Recently Lotus announced it would run cars powered by its own engines in the 2012 Indy Car season, despite the fact that it currently does not build any of its own engines.

GALLERY: Lotus Esprit

[Source: AutoCar]

Lotus engineering chief Wolf Zimmerman also revealed that the planned three-strong family of mid-engined Lotuses that will start with the Esprit will share a common platform, brakes, suspension and electrical systems.