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Until Ford bought it in 2007, Troller was an independent Brazilian brand that made the T4 and the Pantanal pickup. The T4, still in production, looks like a Jeep Wrangler hooked up with an old Ssangyong Korando and a snorkel. With Ford blood coursing through its design offices, the TR-X concept shown off at the São Paulo Auto Show looks like a Wrangler hooked up with an old Bronco and Toyota FJ Cruiser behind one of the booths at SEMA.

The TR-X is said to symbolize the essence of Toller, and while it hasn't been approved for production, we have a feeling that an appropriate response from the Brazilian public could give it a chance of seeing daylight. There's a press release below, as well as a couple of high-res photos.

General Motors has announced that it will invest $450 million in its Rosario Automotive Complex in Argentina between 2013 and 2015. The cash will go toward tooling up for an all-new Chevrolet product to be exported globally. Details concerning what that new vehicle could be or where exactly it will be sold are nil, though GM said it will be based on a current global platform and that it will serve both regional and domestic markets.

All told, the Rosario plant built 135,000 vehicles last year, and the influx of cash will help expand that operation considerably. You can check out the brief press release below for more information.

Mercedes-Benz is already at work on the next-generation C-Class sedan, but USA Today reports that the automaker promises to add a convertible model for to the mix as well and will offer it in the US. The new C-Class is expected out next year as a 2014 model, and it will be the first time the C-Class has ever directly offered a drop-top model, likely to be called the C-Class Cabriolet.

Previously, the CLK-Class acted as a convertible based on the smaller C-Class, but it was sized and generally thought of as an E-Class model. There are no concrete details about this new car, but it's almost certain to be the most affordable convertible in the Mercedes lineup, priced less than the $42,900 SLK-Class roadster and well below the $59,070 E-Class Cabriolet. Cars such as the C-Class Cabriolet and the all-new CLA-Class are an attempt to draw younger buyers into the Mercedes family, according to Steve Cannon, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.

In addition to the new C-Class convertible, USA Today also says that Mercedes plans a total of 19 new or refreshed models (including 11 in new-to-Mercedes segments) by 2020.

There are the right ways to get noticed by football scouts and there are the wrong ways. Performing life-threatening car stunts to show your skills are definitely in the latter category, but Bladimir Barreto, 19, of Palm Bay, Florida, decided that videotaping himself jumping over a moving car was an appropriate way to display his vertical jump to college recruiters. Instead of landing a spot on a college football team, though, Barreto landed himself in the hospital with serious injuries.

Attempting to mimic stunts performed by a certain crazy Swede and Kobe Bryant, Barreto had one of his brothers drive toward him in a '80s Honda Accord while another brother recorded it all. Instead of clearing the sedan, it looks like Barreto mistimed his jump, resulting in him being hit by the car and thrown into the air. The YouTube video description says that he suffered broken legs and a serious head injury, but USA Today did not give specifics, only saying that he was conscious when life-flighted to a nearby hospital.

The report does say that the police charges are pending against the driver of the car for not having a valid driver's license and reckless driving.

Warning: While not overly graphic, the video below could be disturbing to some viewers. And, obviously, don't try this at home.

This is Cooper. Cooper has awesome parents. Cooper's parents made his stroller/push-car into the time-traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future. Yes, we are very jealous of this tot.

According to his mother Cory, who published pics of her son's awesome costume and matching car on Flickr, the inspiration was from a vest. From the gallery's description: "It all started with a red puffy vest Cooper already had and a side comment from my husband about Marty McFly in late September. I've always loved Back to the Future, and love cars since I was little and grew up going to car shows with my Dad"

The process started with a $25 Step2 push car. From there, Cory spent several weekends and weeknights throughout October creating a DeLorean out of cardboard, tape and paint. The final step was the application of electroluminescent wiring by Cory's husband, Jeremy, to create the DeLorean from Back to the Future: Part II (note the hover wheels and "Mr. Fusion").

He may be too young now to fully appreciate the unrivaled incredibleness of this Halloween costume, but hopefully Cooper will look back with fondness one day on the effort taken by his parents to build this terrific tribute to BTTF.

In case you didn't know, Volkswagen is hell-bent on becoming the largest automaker in the world. The German carmaker has inched closer to that goal, having outsold General Motors in China last quarter for the first time in eight years.

Volkswagen's sales in China, its largest marker, increased by 21 percent last quarter to 704,991 units. Those numbers almost tripled GM's third-quarter growth, and were enough to beat out the American automaker's 664,765 sales. GM, however, still leads in year-to-date sales in China by a slim margin of around 77,000 units. The Asian nation also happens to be GM's largest market, and according to the report in Automotive News, China's car market may grow to be larger than the US, Japan and Germany combined in three years' time.

About the news his company was bested in China by VW last quarter, GM CEO Dan Akerson is quoted saying, "It's not whether you're the biggest car manufacturer. It's whether you want to be the most profitable." It should be noted of these figures that GM includes truck figures, yet excludes Hong Kong and Macau from its Chinese sales numbers, while VW does just the opposite. Through September of this year, Volkswagen had 5 of the 10 best selling vehicles in China. GM boasted three of the cars on that list.

One car not on China's Top 10 list is the Malibu. Though GM's second-best selling car in the US, it has been called a "disaster" by Lin Huaibin of IHS Global Insight. The roughly 29,000 units sold were apparently unable to hang with VW's Skoda competitor.

The Automotive News report cites anti-Japanese sentiments and older GM product as reasons for Volkswagen's third quarter rally. Other brands with increased sales included Hyundai, Kia and Ford, citing that the jump in sales for these brands helped their parent companies counter losses incurred in the beleaguered European car market.

Apparently, despite the global economic downturn, some people out there still have large sums of disposable income. We know this because Neiman Marcus sold through a dozen special edition McLaren 12C Spiders in less than two hours Wednesday. At $354,000 each, this single offering grossed Neiman Marcus a staggering $35,400 a minute. Not that we should be surprised. Last year, the retailer sold 10 brand-new Ferrari FF specials out in a mere 50 minutes and in 2009, Neiman Marcus cleared out 50 special Jaguar XJ sedans in four hours and four minutes.

The retailer's annual Christmas Book extravaganza offered the supercar packaged with first-class travel to the UK, two nights at a five-star hotel there, a tour of the McLaren Tech Center and dinner with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis. Each car also includes matching luggage and a numbered stainless-steel badge. One of NM's high-rolling catalog shoppers will be able to say they own the very first McLaren 12C Spider sold to the public.

Neiman Marcus says customers should have their Spiders in time for unwrapping Christmas morning. Let's hope the fortunate recipients live some place warm and that their roads are clear enough to enjoy a truly happy holiday.

The latest video installment of Jay Leno's Garage takes a look at a convertible 1968 Chevy Camaro. Actually, two 1968 Camaros on the same, but different, chassis. It's an RS/SS hybrid of sorts that's both fully-restored stock and modified at the same time.

It may sound like something cooked up just in time for Halloween, but, in fact, it was built by State Farm Insurance to educate agents about the myriad ways classic cars can be restored.

The driver's side of the Camaro is stock 1968 Camaro RS except for the clearcoat paint. The rear wheel is the stock 1968 hubcap and whitewall, while the front is the optional redline tire and rally wheel. Passengers, however, get to travel in what the car would look like as a heavily modded SS with bright red paint, shaved door handles, a spoiler, oversized custom wheels and side pipes.

Looking at each side individually, the two wouldn't seem odd at all. From the front or back, though, you'd swear someone just couldn't make up their mind. The whole car is split down the middle, beginning with an RS grille on the right with hidden headlights and exposed lights and half an SS badge on the left. The hood is split between the standard flat RS hood and a louvered Super Sport lid. The divide continues over the cloth top and onto the rear deck lid where half an SS spoiler sits. The engine is split with aluminum heads on one side, cast iron on the other. The SS side also has tubular control arms, nitrous, big brakes and a carbon-fiber wheelhouse.

A single, split-personality Camaro is easier for State Farm to transport than two Camaros, says State Farm's Earl Hyser (who built the original side). He says the car would probably run, but they've never tried because keeping it empty of fluids allows them to take it into any building.

The "cross-dressing Camaro" as Leno calls it, will be on display at this year's SEMA. Check out the video below.

Fuel-efficient cars might be nearly synonymous with Toyota here in the US, but in Mexico, the Japanese automaker is reportedly leading a fight in a dustup over more stringent automobile fuel efficiency regulations. Mexico's government is reportedly trying to make its own mile-per-gallon rules the same as those in the US as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its economy, but Toyota isn't taking too kindly to the proposed legislation.

Reuters reports that Toyota has obtained a federal court injunction against Nom-163, the law that would align Mexican regulations with US standards. Amia, the carmakers' association in Mexico, has joined Toyota because they say the rules are too strict and will reduce sales because automakers will have to charge more to develop these fuel-efficient cars. Amia also wants Mexican rules to have all of the incentives that the US rules do, and says "central Mexico's high altitude makes higher fuel efficiency harder to achieve," Reuters writes.

According to the report, the government figures that the industry just wants to continue selling dirty cars in Mexico, the kind that are are too dirty to be legally sold in other places. It's certainly not because the automakers can't make clean cars in the region – Mexico's environment undersecretary, Sandra Herrera Flores, points out that "Mexico exports 80 percent of all cars produced locally. From that, 75 percent head to U.S., Canada and Europe, so these vehicles already comply with regulations we are trying to pursue, or even tougher regulations." If the new rules are adopted, Mexico calculates that carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by 160 million tons by 2030.

There was a 60-day comment period for the new law, but Toyota instead filed its lawsuit in the Tribunal Federal de Justicia Fiscal y Administrativa in early September and, just a few weeks later, the court issued an injunction.

The National Resources Defense Council's Rich Kassel called Toyota's actions "truly stunning." He writes, "Toyota filed its lawsuit before the public comment period even closed. And, the company only filed short comments on the Mexican proposal late in the process. They have not issued any public statement that explains their actions. Indeed, they have never spoken publicly about any concerns whatsoever with the Mexican fuel economy proposal."

AutoblogGreen has solicited Toyota for comment on this story, but have not heard back as of publication time.

Ikuo Yokoyama was just one man among hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, but his name will likely resonate with motorcycle enthusiasts for some time.

Yokoyama's 2004 Harley-Davidson FXSTB Softail Night Train was in a container box that was swept away during the tsunami in March 2011, and it washed up on the shore of British Columbia where it was discovered almost a year later. His motorcycle is now on display at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the exact same condition that it was found on the remote Canadian beach back in April.

After the motorcycle was traced back to Yokoyama, Harley-Davidson offered to have the bike restored and returned to its rightful owner, but instead he has asked that the motorcycle be kept in its current tattered and corroded state and displayed as a memorial to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Yokoyama lives in the Miyagi Prefecture, which was one of the hardest-hit areas of Japan, and in addition to his motorcycle, it's reported that he also lost his home and three family members as a result of the natural disaster.

"It may very well be the most important new car since the Model T."

That's the summation of the latest video from Motor Trend and its Ignition video series, speaking of the Tesla Model S. Though the buff site had previously released a video featuring a range-testing excursion from LA-to-Vegas (and back), this time its cameras were out to capture whether it proves its worth as a car.

For MT's Carlos Lago, the criteria involved in the equation includes important things like, "How fast is it, how fun is it to drive." And while he does spend some tire-smoking time testing the five-door hatchback's performance parameters, the approach overall is more holistic than some we've seen.

Adding up the performance, style, technology and price, Lago compares the Tesla favorably with the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Porsche Panamera. He says it feels "like car 3.0." It all kind of gives us hope our favorite fastback will come out on top when MT reveals its Car Of The Year sometime in November.

Scroll down to watch one of the best-looking Model S video reviews to date, and let us know in Comments if you agree with its conclusions.

The initial prognosis for the Volkswagen Up! in Japan is going the same direction as the name of the car: three weeks after launch, 3,000 orders have been placed in Nippon. That beats Ford's sales total for the entire year and is almost a month's worth of BMW imports. Posting those numbers, Japan's Nikkei newspaper says the Up! "may beat the Golf subcompact to become the German automaker's most successful new-car launch in Japan."

The backdrop to this is that European and US automaker groups have been protesting what they see as barriers to the Japanese auto market, with many wary of entering into free trade agreements with the island nation. To put some numbers to it, VW led the table for share of the import market through September of this year, with 18 percent and 41,971 cars sold. That, however, is in a market expected to be worth 4.3 million cars this year, which would put VW at 1.3 percent of the total if the numbers before the Up! range's launch held steady. It's a vertiginous drop after VW, though. Audi, in fifth for yearly sales, has 18,356, while Fiat, in tenth, has 4,353. And those numbers are way up, with the top ten automakers save for Nissan posting meaty double-digit gains over last year. The Europeans are also wary of what has happened on The Continent after a free trade agreement with Korea has given a huge boost to Korean imports.

As far as VW Japan is concerned, it has no concerns. With Up! pricing competitive with the Japan-only kei-car segment, a VW rep told the Asahi Shimbun that their offering will "squarely challenge the small-car market" and that even if "the barrier against imported cars is lowered, we will still have opportunities." The German company wants to more than double its annual sales there to 110,000 cars by 2018. The Up! is giving it a good start.

While most of its competitors have already showed off scores of concept cars headed to the 2012 SEMA Show, all we've seen from Toyota so far is the Sequoia Family Dragster. With less than a week to go until the show, Toyota has let its floodgates open showing off three concepts using the redesigned Avalon, a TRD version of the FJ Cruiser and a mean-looking, off-road Tundra.

Showing off its much shapelier new design, the 2013 Avalon will have no fewer than three show cars on display including a sporty TRD model, a tricked-out DUB edition and even a flashy version of the Avalon Hybrid. The car should look right at home at the Vegas show – it has been stripped off all its chrome and given a sinister-looking black paint job including matte black 22-inch wheels. Between these wheels and the lowered suspension, the DUB Avalon has what appears to be mere millimeters of clearance for that perfect slammed show-car stance. The hybrid Avalon HV Edition (shown above) is meant to show that hybrid vehicles don't have to look boring, while the TRD Edition ups the Avalon's performance with a supercharger to go with upgraded brakes, suspension and styling.

As you may remember, back in late August, Autoblog broke the news that Toyota is seriously considering a sporty Avalon. At the time, our company sources told us that the SEMA showcars could serve as an indicator of where Toyota may be heading with a production performance Avalon, so be sure to take a closer look.

Speaking of TRD, Toyota has used the same recipe for its TRD TX Baja Series Limited Edition and applied it to the FJ Cruiser. The result is the FJ-S Cruiser which uses some of the same equipment as the Tacoma such as the Bilstein race shocks, cat-back exhaust and beadlock wheels. The FJ-S also drops a TRD supercharger onto the V6 engine, improving output to 345 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque.

On the opposite extreme as the Sequoia Family Dragster, the Ultimate Fishing Tundra is a jacked-up off-road behemoth designed by pro angler Britt Myers. Starting off with a 12-inch lift and 38-inch mud tires, the Tundra CrewMax should be quite imposing in person, and inside, the interior has been customized with a massive video monitor and even bucket seats for the rear passengers. This truck has been designed to be the ultimate tackle box, with a slide-out storage system for all the gear an angler needs... including a refrigerator for cold beverages.

At fourteen years of age, Kathryn DiMaria has already done what many self-proclaimed gearheads won't even attempt in their lifetimes. The Dearborn, Michigan teen is rebuilding a car from the ground up.

The intrepid youngster asked her parents when she was just twelve to start a Pontiac Fiero project, even offering to pony up all the funds herself. Father, Jerry DiMaria only expected the project to last a few months, but two years later, Kathryn is still at it. In this CNN video, the two are at Maker Faire (a DIY festival) rebuilding a 3.4-liter V6 engine out of a Chevrolet Camaro to replace the 2.8-liter mill found in the Fiero.

The whole family hast pitched in, with Kathryn's mother teaching her how to sew in order to complete the interior, father Jerry providing much of the technical know-how, and even her sister is chronicling Kathryn's progress through photos. Jerry even started a thread in a Fiero forum which has been live for two years and is now 22 pages long. Of the project, one forum member wrote, "welcome to the madness."

Apparently math and science lessons are coming into play in her project, hopefully putting an end to the "Why do I need to learn this?" argument, at least among her classmates. The lessons will hopefully allow Kathryn to follow her dream to become an engineer. The target date for the project's completion is Kathryn's sweet 16. You can check out her progress in the video below.