Canadians Win 2009 Nissan Cube

Canadian contestants have been vying to win one of 50 Nissan Cube's. And last night Nissan Canada hosted party's in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to announced the 50 winners of Nissan's Hypercube contest.

So did our very own Mark Stevenson take home a cube? Find out after the jump.

Woot! Woot! Yes, he did. Mark was the only contestant from PEI to take home a Cube. After a lot of hard work I believe congratulations are in order! And just in case you didn't recognize him - he's the guy in the white in the photo above.

The 50 winners were announced at events simulcast in CiRCA in Toronto, Club Soda in Montreal and Gossip Nightclub in Vancouver. Finalists unable to make it to the events watched it all unfold via webcast. As names were announced, the ecstatic winners made their way on stage to celebrate and be recognized for their Hypercube creativity. In the coming weeks, all the winners will receive their brand new car from local dealerships.

Several of the Hypercube judges, who had the difficult task of evaluating the 500 finalists and selecting the top 50, attended the events and mingled with the finalists and winners. The independent panel was comprised of three English-speaking and three French-speaking judges. Dustin Rabin, a prominent Canadian concert photographer and Hypercube judge, attended the Toronto event.

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2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year nominees 2010

The 2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards are still months away, but the "long list" has leaked out and it's an odd mix of good, mediocre and, in several cases, not-yet-released.

Fifty journalists from around the continent have voted for 37 vehicles, with 12 offerings hailing from Japan, 11 from Europe, another 11 from the U.S. and three from Korea. Strangely, the Suzuki Kizashi, which hasn't even debuted in production guise, is included in the cars list, while the upcoming Honda Crosstour, the pseudo-wagon-cum-crossover, is listed (as a "truck" no less) despite only being recently confirmed by Honda and spied in the Great Smoky Mountains. Also of note, there's not single Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep offering to be found on the long list, which will be whittled down between now and the awards ceremony at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

Check out all the contenders for this year's award in both the car and truck categories, and let us know if they missed anything in the comments below.

Ford Taurus 2010 SHO offers excellence without emotion new luxury car

The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO will be available this summer with a base MSRP of $37,995, including destination and delivery fees.

The Taurus Sho is one of America's favorite "sleeper" performance cars powered by a Super High Output (SHO) EcoBoost twin turbocharged engine.

The Taurus SHO joins Ford's growing lineup of performance vehicles for the 2010 model year, building on the legacy of the original, which earned a spot on the Car and Driver 10Best list four years running.

"The new Taurus SHO delivers on the authentic sleeper sedan formula but adds all-new luxury-appointments, convenience features and technologies to an unsurpassed balance of power and fuel economy," said Mark Fields, Ford's president of The Americas. "This new sport derivative answers enthusiasts' calls for a premium Ford flagship sedan with even more attitude."

1 Series based 2012 BMW Z2 Roadster

As the new BMW Z4 is making its impressive entrance, another question arises in the mind of BMW fans: should BMW build the rumored Z2 Roadster? In the past few months, more and more information regarding a future Z2 started to leak to the press and caused some controversy between the bimmer fans. They believe the new E89 Z4 has moved away from the typical roadster type and the increased weight - between the E85 and E89 of around 200 lbs - makes the Z4 unlikely to be more dynamic than the E85, a car with already excellent handling. Some people believe that the image of a sport ride will shy away with the new Z4 and the introduction of a smaller, more dynamic roadster is the right answer. Since the new 2009 BMW Z4 has moved up in size as well - not a bad thing in my opinion - this will create an empty spot for the Z2. The BMW Z2 could be a pure roadster that will go back to the original idea of a sport, fun BMW vehicle and by offering a soft rooftop again and removing the unnecessary comfort features, could become the Ultimate Driving Machine one more time, a car that will be purchased due to its performance and handling by the true BMW enthusiasts. With Z2 BMW are aiming at the compact Roadster class and possibly a Z2 Coupe could feature as well. We all know that BMW will focus on building smaller cars, with reduced weight and more efficient engines. In the next few years, there will be a huge push and a demand for four-cylinder engines, which combined with a lighter, smaller car, will offer an excellent ratio of performance and fuel consumption. BMW’s big push for a Compact Roadster is simple under Efficient Dynamics BMW aim for the Z2 Roadster to be the first hybrid BMW Roadster in production utilising BMW eDrive with BMW wanting to continue with what has started with the MINI-E and continue towards the BMW brand and eventually over to Rolls Royce. I do also expect a four-cylinder engine to be available, most likely the engine developed together with the French company PSA. The BMW Z2 which is scheduled for 2012 launch, will be built on the 1 Series platform in order to reduce manufacturing costs and to keep an attractive base price. For the U.S market, an appealing base price is near the $30,000 mark which will allow BMW to win over the young professionals crowd. In conclusion, I believe that a BMW Z2 Roadster will be the right call for the german manufacturer, but before the final go-ahead is given, they will need to take in consideration the sales of the new Z4 and most important, customers’ feedback of their new roadster design and performance.

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Aston Martin 24 hour race with 24-hour race with New V12 Vantage

Aston Martin will enter a V12 Vantage in the 37th Nurburgring 24-hour race on 23-24 May, along with ‘Rose’, the yellow V8 Vantage that was first entered at the infamous ‘Ring race in 2006.
Aston Martin is the latest manufacturer to commit to the Nurburgring 24 hours. Following confirmation of the Lexus LF-A’s appearance and a five-car entry from VW (featuring our man John Barker) comes news that the all-new V12 Vantage will be taking part.
The upcoming standard car has a 6.0-litre V12 engine that produces 510bhp (380kW) and 570Nm (420 lb ft) of torque. Its 0 - 62mph time is 4.2 seconds and the top speed is 190mph (305km/h). The competing car uses this very same engine with no modifications.

The only changes that were made were minimal and were done in order to keep a high safety standard, to reduce weight and improve handling (suspension). The standard car already features carbon fibre components. Pirelli provided the specially selected P Zero Circuit Racing slick tyres.

"We already have a proven track record at the Nürburgring racing our road cars with limited modification," said Dr Bez, "and in 2009 we also celebrate our 50-year anniversary of winning the ADAC Nürburgring 1000 km with a DBR1."