It’s the most prestigious (and largest) institution dedicated to preserving America’s past. But when it comes to cars, the Smithsonian Institution has many of its 73 vehicles locked away in storage.

However, it will shortly be putting two of them on display as part of  the National Museum of American History Collection from January 22 to February 21, 2011. The only problem is, deciding which ones should qualify.

To that end, the Smithsonian is asking the public for help in selecting the candidates – the first time ever it’s offered such a proposal.  The candidates are listed below.

1880 Long steam tricycle, an early precursor  to what we know as the automobile.

1894 Balzer quadricycle, recognized as the first American-made car to be driven around New York City.

1903 Oldsmobile curved-dash runabout (credited as the first high volume production car)

1929 front-drive Miller Race Car, (front drive was fairly novel in the late 1920s, especially on racers)

1948 Tucker Torpedo (the most technologically advanced ‘production’ car of the 1940s)

1953 Glasspar sports car, a roadster built by a California boat builder out of fiberglass.

1987 GM Sunraycer, a solar powered machine that dominated an 1,864-mile race across Australia.

1998 GM EV1 electric car (shown)

We might be going out on a limb by saying this, but given current fad surrounding electric cars, we’ll bet that the EV1 will be one of the two vehicles ultimately selected for display. The winners will be announced on  January 12th.

[Source: Left Lane News]

To say Suzuki is struggling a bit in North America is an under statement. After posting record sales of 101,884 units in 2007, their sales took a drastic turn for the worse in 2009 when they shifted just 38,689 vehicles. 2010 is not looking good either as sales are again down by a lethal 42%.

At this rate, Suzuki could go extinct, but they are not going to give up that easy. To help boost their image and brand awareness, Suzuki is launching a whole host of new TV adverts promoting the Kizashi to catch your eye.

The new ads feature the Kizashi competing against cars like the Mercedes-Benz C300, the Audi A4 and the Volvo S40 – all vehicles that seem to be out of its league. The ads highlight the Suzuki’s better handling and braking and also value for money. For humor, they also pit the Kizashi against a stretch limo, a motorized sofa and a bubble wrap man!

These type of ads are nothing new. Back in the 1980′s, Hyundai used to have ads pitting their Stellar against the Mercedes-Benz E-class and more recently Hyundai brought ads of that type back.

Suzuki is ensuring people will see these ads, as they will be aired from Christmas day, and will be played next year during programs like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

Will these new ads help Suzuki sell more cars? Only time will tell, but do check out one of the ads below or hit the link to view them all.

[Source: Kizashi Kicks]

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From viewing the news over the last 12 months you’d be forgiven for thinking that 2010 was the year that automotive recalls broke records, and indeed the 2010 total was higher by about some 800,000 vehicles over 2009.

Toyota‘s highly publicized woes, including hearings before congress, fueled much of recall ‘mania’ in 2010, while a number of other automakers,  including Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda and Nissan, also issued a number of bulletins. Yet, despite a total of 136 separate recall programs, spread across 17.2 million vehicles, 2010 still wasn’t a record year. By contrast, back in 2000, a total of 24.3 million vehicles were recalled for defects, most notably first generation Ford Explorers for the Firestone tire blow-out fiasco.

However, getting back to 2010, out of the total 17.2 million vehicles, according to Ward’s Auto World, Toyota still led the way, with some 17 separate recalls covering 6.6 million vehicles. Also, according to Ward’s the Japanese automaker is still only 65 percent done with repairing the 5.6 million cars, vans and light trucks recalled in 2010 for faulty floormats.

[Source: Ward's Auto World]

According to statistics, today Americans are using approximately 8 percent less fuel to power their cars than they did in 2006, which is recognized as the peak for U.S. oil consumption.

However, Americans still remain the number one consumer of oil of the planet, gobbling up 8.2 million barrels of the black gold each day. According to experts in the oil industry and in government, future forecasting predicts gasoline consumption will continue to drop, by as much as 20 percent in the next two decades, even as an estimated 27 million vehicles join the roads. Some of the reasons cited include less driving by baby boomers and more and more fuel efficient cars augmenting the existing vehicle fleet in North America.

However, there are those who predict that increased consumption from countries like China and India, as well as parts of the Middle East, will negate a lot of that decrease, so overall global demand for oil is likely to remain much the same, at least during the coming decade.

[Source: The Associated Press]

Toyota will officially announce the launch of the Prius as its own vehicle line at the Detroit Auto Show in January with the introduction of two new versions of the popular hybrid.

The unnamed new production model has been teased in the past and is believed to be an MPV-style vehicle with more functionality and space than the original. In addition, Toyota will also showcase a new Prius concept, possibly a closer-to-production version of the FT-CH Concept from last years Detroit show. The FT-CH would take the Prius brand in the opposite direction of the MPV, with a size closer to that of the Yaris. Another strong possibility is a compact crossover vehicle.

For the full story check back for Detroit Auto Show coverage starting January 10th. In the mean time, see AutoGuide’s Detroit Auto Show preview here.

Official release

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In a recent interview Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo let slip that the exotic Italian automaker’s Geneva Auto Show debut will be, “a very different new Ferrari.” He then went on to comment that the vehicle will showcase Ferrari’s ability to adapt with the world – suggesting that it will in fact be some sort of ‘green’ model.

While best known for building ultra-high performance V8 and V12 engines, more recently Ferrari has showcased several greener technologies. At this year’s Paris Auto Show we got our first glimpse at the California HELE (High Emotion Low Emission) model, which uses a start-stop system, new gearing shift points, a more efficient fuel pump, engine fan and a variable electronic air conditioning compressor that can cut the amount of power used by the system by 35 percent. In total, the California HELE is 23 percent more efficient than the standard model.

Nearly a year ago at the Geneva Auto Show, Ferrari unveiled its 599 HY-KERS prototype, using an F1-style brake regeneration system to deliver added power when required, but also help reduce emissions under normal driving.

No details of the Geneva Auto Show vehicle have been confirmed, but there’s a strong possibility it will be a concept version of the successor to the 612 Scaglietti, using a KERS-style hybrid setup.

[Source: Autosblog.fr]

Several spy photos have already given us a good idea of what the next-generation Hyundai Accent will look like, but we now have the first look at the hatchback model. Unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in China, the Accent will be sold as the Verna overseas.

In China two engines will be offered including a 1.4-liter 4-cylinder with 105-hp and 100 ft-lbs of torque, as well as a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder with 121-hp and 114 ft-lbs of torque. The latter engine is expected to be offered in the North American Accent and achieve over 40-mpg highway.

The official reveal for the next Accent is pegged to take place at the New York Auto Show in April.

Official release after the jump:

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General Motors has announced two separate recalls for a total of five vehicles totaling 100,000 units in all. The majority of recalled vehicles are 2005-07 Cadillac CTS models where the passenger airbag could fail to inflate in a crash due to a possible broken connection with the sensor in the passenger seat. In total 95,927 vehicles are affected.

The second and much smaller recall is for the 2011 Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500 and Chevrolet Avalanche (yea, they still make that). The issue surrounds a rear axle pin which could break and cause the axle to lock in place, effectively limiting the driver’s ability to control the vehicle and, therefore, could result in a crash. Just 1,262 vehicles are affected.

GM is expected to notify customers shortly with repairs to take place early in the new year.

[Source: NHTSA]

Toyota has officially taken the wraps off its new Japanese Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris. That might not at first be obvious, as the sub-compact has received quite the makeover, with an edgier design. It might not get your heart racing, but it won’t send you into a coma where you’ll dream about jellybeans (like the last car did) either.

Perhaps most notable, however, is the interior, which no longer features the ergonomically nightmarish centrally located gauges. (Hooray!)

The new model will be available in Japan with a range of small 4-cylinder engines. The largest is a 1.5-liter which is expected to be offered here, although it is possible that Toyota could deliver a Yaris with the new 1.3-liter 4-cylinder that will arrive in the upcoming Scion iQ.

There’s no indication from Toyota on when it will show the new Vitz/Yaris in North America, but it should go on sale late next year.

GALLERY: 2012 Toyota Vitz/Yaris

Official release after the jump:

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After an initial investigation and then a recall on the Ford Windstar for rear axle failure, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has put the minivan on notice – again. This time NHTSA’s investigation involves the van’s subframe, which reportedly suffers from the same structural rusting as the rear axles.

The NHTSA website lists 346 complaints of the front subframe (which holds up the engine, transmission, steering rack and front suspension) breaking. A total of three crashes and one injury are listed in connection with front subframe failures on the van.

AutoGuide has also received numerous reports of subframe issues by Windstar owners in response to previous articles written about the rear axle failure recall.

NHTSA’s investigation involves 550,000 Windstar vans dating from the 1999-2003 model years.

Ford’s troubled Windstar minivan is making headlines for all the wrong reasons as of late after as Massachusetts man was killed recently, reportedly the result of a broken rear axle. That news sparked response from Ford, which then expanded the axle recall from 575,000 vehicles to 612,000.

[Source: Bloomberg]