American

Well I'm not sure if calling them the enemy is exactly fair, the police are there to protect us, after all. But as any car enthusiast knows, encounters with the law are inevitable and rarely fun. Regardless, Ford will be offering a new police car to officers around the country and sending the standard work-horse, the Crown Victoria, to the bone yard. Ford announced today its 2012 Ford Interceptor will be available to officers in late 2011, and will be chock full of all types of new goodies and gadgets to fight bad guys.

I never thought I would say this, but the Taurus looks simply intimidating. The outgoing Crown Victoria was intimidating because you knew the trouble it brought, and if it was behind you it was because you had done wrong and were about to be told so by a man with a gun. Not this one. The headlight housings are blacked out, and in place of fog lights are LED running lights, that have a strobe function. There are also blue and red LEDS surrounding the new, projector headlights. The push-bar has integrated red and blue strobes, as do the side mirrors. If you tell this cop you didn't see him behind you, he should have legal permission to arrest you for being too stupid to operate a car.

Lately, car manufacturers have seemingly been focused on only one thing: gaps in the market. The Toyota Venza filled a gap I didn't know existed, somewhere between city-capable SUVs and passenger cars. BMW did the same thing with the 5 series Grand-Touring, an ugly car that's apparently for people who need more room than a trunk provides but want less space than a wagon would give them. I guess if you're constantly transporting acute triangles, it's the car for you.

Either way, the people that call the shots are building a car for everything and anything they can think of. I find this highly annoying. Except here: Chevrolet has built a new Corvette to fill the gap between the Z06 and the ZR1, called the 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition. Finally a crossover vehicle that makes sense. 

One of the most exciting stories from SEMA '09 was Carroll Shelby giving the official go-ahead to Classic Recreations to build a continuation of the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, called the 1967 Mustang Fastback Shelby G.T.500CR "Performance." Classic Recreations was the only shop ever given such a  priviledge. At SEMA all they had were drawings and specs of the proposed car, and even those had me salivating (check out our story here). This was a huge undertaking, because the GT500 is one of the most coveted and loved muscle cars of all time.

After Nicolas Cage drove one ( "Eleanor," a modified GT500 that never liked being stolen) in the 2000 blockbuster re-make "Gone in 60 Seconds" the population of those that fawn over the GT500 only grew. What was once loved only by hot rod fans and guys in their 50s was now loved by everyone.

Expensive cars and expensive watches have been paired together as often, and for as long, as ice cream and chocolate syrup. Every year various watch manufacturers come out with special editions aimed at the performance driver. Usually they sport multiple chrono dials, exotic light-weight materials, and a price that is proportional to the car by which they're inspired.

The 2010 TAG Heauer Tesla Roadster is the same idea, flipped. Tesla and TAG Heuer joined forces to design a limited edition roadster, which they showed off at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. Tesla's chief designer Franz von Holzhausen worked closely with the Swiss watch designers to develop a look that was true to both companies.

Last week sub5zero.com was invited to Spring Mountain Motor Sports Ranch for a track day. When we arrived, the parking lot was filled with an amazing plethora of exotics, many of them with extensive modifications. The incredible collection of metal that had come to drive the road course had me grinning like the Cheshire Cat, and did more to wake me up than the 3 cups of McDonald's coffee I had drank earlier. But when I saw this Mustang at the end of the row, I knew something was up. No way someone brought regular Mustang GT out here.

It seemed a bit out of place at a private racing club, especially with it's rattle-can paint job and yellow mirrors. After investigating, I found out it wasn't just a 2010 GT with a $5 paint-job. Not even close. This is a 2011 Ford Mustang GT test mule. The drivers were Ford engineers, who had been given the horrifying task of putting over 100,000 track miles on the new 412hp,  5.0 Liter V-8. 

I don't put much faith in the mainstream media anymore. Not because I believe the government is listening to my brain-waves and controlling CNN from an underground base in a Nevada desert, but because I've found they leave out a lot of important information. It's not that the news doesn't talk about cars, they do. Hybrid technology stops by monthly, and Toyota's recall was all over the TV for days. These are important, but so is the progress Tesla is making (leaps and bounds).

Here, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk sits down with actor/comedian/talk show host Kevin Pollak for an hour-long interview on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show. No script, no censors, no filters. Just Mr. Musk talking about his passion and determination to design a car that is both loved by consumers and benefits mankind. It sounds cheesy, but he is the real deal. Here Elon explains the future of Tesla, including: Rental cars, rental battery packs, electricity infrastructure and expansion, and how a $25k Taurus is more expensive to own than a $50k Tesla.

Ford's SVT Raptor is my favorite truck right now, and comfortably sits in my Top 10 Trucks of All Time lounge. It's fast, strong, durable, and able to go off of jumps without sending the tires through the hood and the driver to the grave. It is what I would want someone to build if I could design my own truck. The only thing it needed is more power. Ford answered that request by adding an extra option box to the dealer sheet, offering a 6.2 liter engine producing 411hp and 434 ft-lbs of torque.

But maybe you already bought your Raptor with the 5.4L, or maybe you had to get it because the lie "It's a small engine so it gets good gas mileage" was the only thing that got your significant other to co-sign the loan. Either way, if you want more power without opting for the 6.2, you just have to call Hennessey Performance. Named the Hennessey VelociRaptor 500 ($10 says John Henessey loves Jurassic Park) this truck will eat trails and sports cars alike.

It was only a matter of time before the 2011 Ford Mustang GT got overhauled by the folks at Shelby American. Fresh off the official debut at the 2010 NAIAS last week, the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona served as a perfect venue to showcase the new Shelby GT350 Mustang at an opening night gala honoring the 45th anniversary of the original 1965 model.

The 2011 Shelby GT350 sports a Ford Racing supercharger and suspension system, Baer brakes front and back, a center exit Borla exhaust system and Cragar wheels with sticky Goodyear tires. The small block 5.0-liter V8 engine has been tuned to produce close to 500 horsepower, which is put down to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.