Car Tech Articles

Microsoft and Ford bought a lot of advertisements on NFL football broadcasts over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. The companies are pushing Sync, which is the latest outgrowth of Microsoft's decade-long effort to provide software for use in automobiles.

In this case, Microsoft might actually succeed. Simplicity is the key: unlike past scenarios floated for the Windows Automotive platform, Sync isn't intended to help control your car (leading to the inevitable blue screen jokes) or connect to the Internet or serve as the back-end for an in-car control panel. Instead, it gives you voice command over Bluetooth-enabled phones and … Read more

Do good things or bad things come in threes? Ford hopes for good, unveiling the second in a series of three Ford Verve concepts at the Auto Guangzhou show in China. Ford put its first Verve concept, a three-door hatchback, on the stage at this year's Frankfurt auto show. The new Verve concept is a four-door model, and Ford says it embodies its new "kinetic" design language, as did the earlier Verve concept. The center stack controls use a configuration similar to that found in the new Mondeo, although Ford designers also took cues from cell phone … Read more

Boeing has rolled out the marketing for its laser-equipped Humvee by zapping five IED-like targets on a test range at Alabama's Redstone Arsenal (PDF) in what it called "the company's ability to rapidly respond to warfighters' needs."

Dubbed the "Laser Avenger," the unit consists of a 1-kilowatt solid-state laser mounted on an air-defense Humvee. It works by "shooting an invisible beam just a few centimeters in diameter and 20 times hotter than an electric stovetop" into the offending munition until it combusts internally. It then just "pops" or "… Read more

Here's something you don't see every day.

Gap has partnered with Piaggio, the maker of Vespa motor scooters, to offer a limited-edition LX50.

The Vespa is painted in the same colorful pattern that Gap is offering in scarves, gloves, sweaters, leg warmers, and baby clothes this season.

The $5,999 "Holiday Vehicle" is a bit more pricey than the $3,199 you'd likely pay for the standard LX50.

The pattern is called "Crazy Stripe." While it's adorable, I'm not so sure you'll still think so after the third kid stops … Read more

The 2008 model year update to the Toyota Highlander Hybrid took the unoriginal path, reflected by model updates across the industry, of making everything bigger. The new Highlander is higher and wider, giving more space inside but also increasing the weight, a counterintuitive design move with a hybrid. On the positive side, the EPA-rated fuel economy hasn't changed, even though the car uses the same power train as in previous years.

Read the review

Historians, take note: Honda's FCX is the first hydrogen-fuel-cell car in production. Get a first look from the floor at the 2007 LA Auto Show.

Lincoln reaches back to make its first car in ages that we can really call gorgeous. Get a first look from the floor at the 2007 LA Auto Show.

Don't say we didn't tell you so. The 2008 Cadillac CTS, which we awarded an Editors' Choice barely three weeks ago, has won Motor Trend's Car of the Year award for 2007. The redesigned Caddy beat out competition from the 2008 Audi TT, the Volvo C30, the Scion xD, and the new Honda Accord to take the laurels.

In the press release that brought us the news today (heaven forbid that subscribers of the magazine actually have to wait to get their January issue of the mag to find out) Motor Trend's editor made special mention … Read more

Get a first look of the Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR from the 2007 LA Auto Show.