Continuing with a look at some of the “themed” pickup trucks on display at this year’s SEMA show, we bring you the Toyota Oakley Surf Tacoma.

This one, as you might imagine was done in conjunction with famed surfing company Oakley and to quote Toyota’s official press release “has the ability to live at the beach and go anywhere in search of mega waves; from the coast of Baja to the cold water of Santa Cruz, California.”

Features include a purpose-built racking system for storing surfboards, bags and other equipment, plus a modified pickup bed with storage for wetsuits, plus an ice chest and barbeque grill. There’s even a retractable canopy so you and a few of your surfing friends can enjoy a cold drink and a hot meal in the shade, while a built in shower system means you can get rid of all that salt from wave riding before chowing down.

Inside, the cab boasts Wet Okole Hawaii seat covers with custom embroidery, plus Topstitch on the door panels, carpet and headliner. There’s also a thumping Kicker Audio system and of course a signature Oakely icon.

While the Tacoma’s stock V6 is a decently potent engine, for a SEMA show truck, a little excess was called for and Toyota engineers bolted on a supercharger kit from the company’s TRD parts catalog, resulting in 304 hp. Other performance mods include a Flowmaster free flowing stainless exhaust, plus suspension upgrades in the shape of an Icon Stage 3 lift kit; Billet front upper control arms, special coil over front springs and new leaf springs out back. Wheels are black finished Walker Evans 17 x 8-inch bead lock units mounted on BF Goodrich 285/75-17 all-terrain tires.

Outside, the truck is finished in menacing black with contrasting white Oakley graphics and logs, plus Vision X front driving lights, a custom front bumper incorporating a winch and under vehicle skid plates.

Once it’s duties at SEMA is over, the Oakley Surf Tacoma will begin a new lease of live, being taken to each and every Oakley Surfing competition in the land; not a bad idea by all accounts.

GALLERY: Oakley Surf Tacoma

Our friends to the north have been keeping busy by choosing their pick for the car and truck of the year, before snow takes over.

So over the last week, the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) had assembled in the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario to see which cars are the best in their category. The winners in each category will then go head to head with each other to name just one Car of the Year and Truck of the Year, which will be announced at the Toronto International Auto Show on February 16, 2012.

For now, here is the list of winners per category:

BEST NEW SMALL CAR (under $21k) – Hyundai Accent

BEST NEW SMALL CAR (over $21k) – Hyundai Elantra

BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (under $30k) – Kia Optima

BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (over $30k) – Kia Optima Hybrid

BEST NEW LUXURY CAR – Mercedes-Benz C350 4MATIC

BEST NEW PRESTIGE CAR (over $75k) – Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTEC 4MATIC

BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (under $50k) – Hyundai Veloster

BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (over $50k) – BMW 1M

BEST NEW SUV/CUV (under $35k) – Dodge Journey

BEST NEW SUV/CUV ($35k-$60k) – Volkswagen Touareg TDI

BEST NEW SUV/CUV (over $60k) – BMW X3

Interestingly, the only American brand to have a category winner is Dodge, and the country with the most winners on this list is S. Korea, while no Japanese car made the cut.

Toyota has teamed up with DC Shoes and West Coast Customs to build a one-of-a-kind Ultimate Motocross Truck, set to debut at this year’s SEMA Show. Based on a Toyota Tundra full-size pickup, the build team used feedback from various Motocross athletes to help create a truck that every motocross rider needs to make an event trip easier.

The modifications began with a suspension lift from Camburg Racing, shocks by Fox Racing, wheels from KMC in an 18×9-inch variety paired to 35×12.5×18 General tires. Custom rough-texture paint by Line-X was then applied, while the roof rack can play double duty as a viewing deck. Other modifications include fold-up bed sides, a suicide tailgate, a gas pump and water pressure washer located in the bed, an air compressor, a winch to load bikes, a hidden ramp, custom embroidered interior and more.

The Supercross Tundra will make its debut at SEMA this year with World Freestyle champion and X Games gold medalist Nate Adams on hand.

GALLERY: Toyota Tundra Ultimate Motocross Truck

While it may seem that most of Chevrolet’s attention is on their Camaro model for this year’s SEMA Show, they did announce a pair of Corvettes that will be shown off on the show floor.

Celebrating 30 years of “Corvettes at Carlisle”, Chevy will show off a special edition Corvette Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept sporting a new and unique Carlisle Blue exterior. Contrasting the Carlisle Blue Corvette will be a Torch Red Corvette Z06 Ron Fellows Hall of Fame Tribute vehicle.

The Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept features an LS3 6.2L with dry sump oil system, a motor that was hand-built at GM’s Performance Build Center. The power plant is mated to a six-speed manual transmission and features Chevrolet’s Magnetic Selective Ride Control. On the outside, silver-painted Torque 2 wheels contrast the Carlisle Blue exterior while Pearl White full-length racing stripes sets a nice accent. A dual-mode exhaust system goes with a huge collection of Genuine Corvette Accessories. The exterior also features a carbon fiber ground effects kit and full-width rear spoiler while the interior gets ebony floor mats and a racing pedal package.

The custom Z06 set to honor Ron Fellows’ long, distinguished Corvette Racing career features a CFZ carbon fiber package which includes a new splitter and rocker moldings; a carbon fiber raised hood, and black headlamp housings and mirrors. The brake calipers were done in a similar red as the exterior while the ebony interior also received red stitching accents.

Autoguide will be sure to check out these Corvettes and all the Camaros that will surely take SEMA by storm this year.

GALLERY: Corvette Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept

GALLERY: Corvette Z06 Ron Fellows Hall of Fame Tribute

Toyo Tires recently announced three of their four 2011 SEMA booth vehicles, choosing to keep the fourth one a secret… until now. Toyo Tires has teamed up with D3 Cadillac to show off a special edition 2012 CTS-V Coupe dubbed “Le Monstre” packing in excess of 1,001-hp and 1,001 lb-fts of torque.

D3 Cadillac is well-known for their Cadillac tuning programs, having the world’s only full line of products from power kits to competition track ready suspension kits to fully functional aerodynamic components. Le Monstre features D3′s competition proven powertrain, competition suspension package and complete wide body conversion.

The nickname pays homage to the 1950 Cadillac Coupe Series 61 that was built to compete in the 24 Hours of LeMans. 2011 marks the 61st anniversary since that historic 1950 event.

D3 Cadillac looks forward to putting Le Monstre onto the track in 2012, competing in various Time Attack events and showing off what they can do with the Cadillac platform.

Subaru of America will be showing off several of their record setting race cars alongside custom Subaru Performance Tuning models at this year’s SEMA Show. Also at the Subaru booth this year will be the Isle of Man record setting WRX STI making its US debut alongside David Higgins’ 2011 Rally America Champion WRX STI.

Subaru also plans on debuting several custom performance cars including their Subaru Performance Tuning 2012 WRX STI 4-door, Kicker Audio 2012 WRX STI 5-door, Subaru 2012 Impreza Sport 5-door accessory vehicle, Subaru 2012 Impreza 4-door accessory vehicle and Subaru 1986 XT Drive Magazine restoration project car.

Both SRT USA drivers David Higgins and Dave Mirra will also be at the Subaru booth to sign autographs on November 1st from 11 AM-1 PM and November 2nd from 11 AM-1 PM.

Toyota is setting targets of between 1,000 and 2,000 units per month for the rollout of its Scion iQ city car, and the new vehicle will see a tiered launch that involves an initial rollout on the West Coast this winter with a Midwest and East Coast launch this spring.

The Japanese-built iQ will also have to work around Toyota supplier schedules, which have yet to fully come back online following March’s earthquake and tsunami. While the iQ starts at under $16,000, Scion VP Jack Hollis said that a continued economic downturn would be bad for the car, as it would leave the youth demographic without the funds to purchase the car.

Ford’s Lane Keeping technology is much more effective than a cup of super strong coffee – this technology will let you know when you’re too tired to drive.

Set to launch in early 2012 on the Ford Explorer, the Lane Keeping technology is perfect for drivers that are in for the long haul or have to pull a late-night road trip. This system will keep drivers in control by alerting them when it detects signs of drowsiness.

Using a camera mounted near the rear view mirror, the system is able to keep track of how you’re driving. When it senses your attention is wandering, the alarms start to go off. Depending on how alert you are, you may get a warning chime or a coffee up that lights up on the dashboard.

And if all that fails, the system takes it up a notch to get you focused on the road. If you start to drift across the lanes, the steering wheel will vibrate in order to snap you out of your sleepiness.

“Our engineering teams tested this technology for thousands of miles in many parts of the country to help ensure it performs on a wide range of roads with different lane markings,” said Michael Kane, vehicle engineering supervisor for Driver Assistance Technologies for Ford.

After the jump, watch the video to see the Lane Keeping System in action.

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Fears that General Motors would lose former buyers of Pontiac vehicles to other brands appear to be unfounded, according to the latest data from Edmunds.

While the controversial axing of the Pontiac brand led to fears that GM would lose former customers of the brand, data shows that nearly 40 percent of Pontiac customers opted for another GM vehicle in 2011, up from 31.7 percent in 2010. Chevrolet seems to be the most popular brand for former Pontiac owners, with nearly 28 percent opting for a Chevy. Brands like Ford, Honda and Toyota have conquest rates well under 10 percent each, proving that imports haven’t been such a draw for this demographic.

[Source: Edmunds Auto Observer]

The glory days of the muscle car era may be long over, but die-hard fans of V8 powered American iron don’t have to spend countless hours restoring oxidized hulks of decades-old metal anymore.

Ford will be showing off a brand new ’65 Mustang bodyshell – yes you read that right – at the 2011 SEMA Show starting Monday, October 31st. Dynacorn International, an independent contractor used by Ford to stamp body shells, also creates brand new bodies for Ford Mustangs Chevrolet Camaro and Chevelle models as well as Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Pickups.

With the new bodyshell (which costs around $15,000) and Ford’s authorized parts dealer network, one could basically build an all-new vintage Mustang, configured as an original 1964.5, a 1965 or 1966 model. Such a car would be subject to various kit car laws, and would have to be assigned a special VIN number by one’s local government, but for the hobbyist that wants the absolute best muscle car going, there’s really no better option.

[Source: New York Times]