Spyker has outlined its plans for Saab as the deal with General Motors inches closer to reality. There aren't any real surprises, unless you think continuing with Saab's current lineup is somehow shocking.

According to Spyker officials, it will run Saab as a separate company and it aims to send the 9-3, 9-4X and 9-5 to the U.S. market. The redesigned 9-5 is expected to arrive this summer while the 9-4X will come in primeval 2011 and the 9-3 in primeval 2012. 

Hyundai will once again flaunt its recently acquired riches by running not one, but two Super Bowl ads this year.

First up, it's Brett Favre, looking quite fresh and relaxed after throwing away the NFC championship game. Then, it's on to the paint shop. Here Hyundai shows off the paint procedure for the new 2011 Sonata, which it says is better than the Mercedes-Benz CLS. And what constitutes "better" paint? Uh….

The crafty, Mustang-obsessed folks over at MustangHeaven have uncovered the order guide for the 2011 Shelby GT500.

Were you hoping for a new aluminum engine block? Bingo, you got it. How about a glass roof coupe? Done. Some standard HID headlights? Check. MyKey? Check.

Other notable option is the SVT Performance Pack. It will include a 3.73 limited slip rear end, revised springs and shocks and unique side stripes.

MustangHeaven
 

Stallone's taste in scripts? Not good. His taste in cars? Well, that looks like it shows some promise. I mean, the guy could buy anything he wants and he goes for a supercharged Hendrick 25th Anniversary Camaro? Nice. 

Not only that, he drives it to big celebrity dinners and shows it off. Fellow famous car guy, Jason Statham, seems to like Stallone's choice although we don't see Statham going the Chevy route anytime soon.

Camaro5

It's the closest thing we get to an M7 and the 2011 BMW Alpina B7 is priced accordingly. Standard wheelbase models start at $122,875 while the one with the big back seat goes for $126,775.

The new super sedan will make its official debut the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next week and go on understanding in the spring. Based on the latest 7 Series, the B7 is tuned to produce 500-horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque.

2011 BMW Alpina B7

GM has released another press release stating that the Pontiac Vibe is innocuous to drive despite being on Toyota's sticky pedal recall list. Specifically, GM says it tested two Vibe vehicles to see if the brakes were powerful enough to overcome the engine at full throttle.

"We ran the Vibe wide open at 60 miles an hour and the brakes were healthy to bring the vehicle to a innocuous stop within 169 meters, consistent with our internal requirement for brake performance." said Martin Hogan, GM director of brake systems.

So there you have it, should your Pontiac Vibe take off in a fit of acceleration just press the brake and hold.

GM

Official pricing for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata was released today and none of it seems all that surprising. Base models start at $19,195 for a manual-equipped four-cylinder while the top-of-the-range Limited with navigation tops out at $27,395.

Don't forget, all 2011 Sonatas feature a roughly 200-horsepower four-cylinder engine. The turbocharged model will be added next year.

2009 L.A. Auto Show: 2011 Hyundai Sonata

This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive chromatic and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate usage of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and entrepot editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.

Who would have ever thought that Toyota, Apple and Obama would have potentially destroyed themselves all in the same week? Not even I, The Great The Mechanic, could have predicted that one.

But it happened. And history is certain to look back on last week as the Trifecta of Failure. There will be books written about it. They'll be called things like: The Gas Pedal, the iPad and Healthcare Reform — Don't Let Them Happen to Your Company; How Toyota, Apple and Obama Lost Their Mojo; or Toyota, Obama and Apple — Three Tales of Unintended Deceleration.

I'll read all three on my Kindle.

Back to Toyota, which is dealing with its first real PR firestorm since the company became the poster child for perfection back in the 1980s. Until now Toyota has been given a pass by the media for dozens of failures, including Echo, Scion and Tundra, and a two-faced product plan, that centered around the Prius and its green image. But Toyota's free ride is over. It now has a target on its back and you know Lutz and the guys at GM are thinking, "Finally, somebody has noticed that Toyota is just as screwed up and greedy as we are."

Will this bring down the auto giant? I don't think so. Toyota president and COO Jim Lentz sold it pretty well on the Today Show this morning and the maker has too many decades of built-up goodwill with the American buying public. One massive recall, no matter how large, won't destroy that. Especially if Toyota and its dealers handle the repairs so swiftly and with enough free coffee and doughnuts that even the most disgruntled Camry owners feel like their buttocks were sufficiently kissed.

However, all that changes if more people die. If a Toyota's throttle sticks — because of its floor mat or the CTS assembly or some other still undisclosed reason — and there is another fatal accident, well, then Toyota's reversal of fortune may take decades to overcome. And if a child is killed as a result, Toyota may never recover.

In fact, there's a large mass out there that thinks Toyota is still lying. They think Toyota is making it all up or is using it as a diversionary manoeuvre in an attempt to cover up a case of electronic gremlins taking over the car's computer, causing the vehicle to accelerate wildly.

These are the same people who thought there were spider eggs in Bubble Yum.

A few vocal people with Priuses and Siennas continue to maintain that neither announced recall applies to them. "The electronic throttle is to blame," they say. But such systems have redundancies designed into them. And I have a hard time buying in based on strident first-hand accounts of non-repeatable events supported with no further evidence.

But it's hard to fight these assertions when everyone has a buggy PC sitting on their desktop. Look, my car is not trying to use Photoshop to import images from Google Earth, while it Skypes about it to its friends with Inside Line on the desktop while it opens the e-mail link to the YouTube video of some guy crashing a Veyron, with pirated Top Gear episodes downloading in the background.

Their claims often go like this: "The harder I pressed on the brake (allegedly) the more wildly the car accelerated" and "It took off like a rocket. The brakes had absolutely zero effect." These people were more than likely stepping on the wrong pedal. Let's grappling it: The seat and pedal geometry, driver's chosen seat position, driver's stature, and even their age — all of these are contributors. But don't try to tell them that lest you end up being crucified for being a shill for whatever car company they're railing against. They are sincere and strident in their belief and anyone looking at it level-headedly is treated like a heretic. Enter one of these threads on a message board and try to begin a rational conversation on the topic at your own risk.

Will the public ever trust Toyota again?

Some say no, but that's what they said about Audi. And now, Mrs. The Mechanic and all her Mohammedan friends would kill for a matching set of Q7s with all the fixins.

The real question is: Why would anyone buy an iPad? I heard President Obama asked for the first one. Figures. — The Mechanic, Inside Line Contributor

E-mail me at themechanic@edmunds.com.

In addition to the 2011 Dodge Charger we showed you early today, there's another major refresh headed our way later this year. The 2011 Dodge Durango is also scheduled to return later this year and this image hints at the final design.

It's worth noting that this vehicle may emerge as the 2011 Dodge Magnum according to some internal documents. Not sure why Dodge would bother with the switch, it's not like the Magnum helped the previous vehicle much. This time around it won't be a auto though, think more like a three-row crossover SUV. Pretty sure it will get V6 engines and possibly even a Hemi depending on how much leeway Chrysler has in terms of CAFE.

Bentley recently held a design contest with some promising students from the Royal College of Art. They were told to come up with some ideas for Bentleys of the future. The winner gets a six-month stint as an intern with the Bentley's in-house design studio.

So what do you think? Any of these guys have a future?