Year: 2010
Make: Nissan
Model: GT-R SpecV
Power: 478 HP
Why It's Hot: "It's no secret Nissan has done everything right when it comes to the GT-R. The car has tamed the Nurburgring, besting supercars that cost far more money while delivering real world reliability and daily drivability. Like the Spec-Vs of early 1990s Skyline GT-R fame the latest rendition of Nissan's factory special edition takes the car to a whole new level. The Spec-V is currently a Land of the Rising Sun only proposition, making its inclusion on the Forza 3 DLC a real treat for players around the world."

Year: 2010
Make: Ferrari
Model: 599XX
Power: 700 HP
Why It's Hot: "The XX in the Ferrari 599XX badge gives clues to its experimental mission. The car is basically a library book that needs to be checked out at the front desk and the library is in Maranello. While based on the 599 GTB Fiorano, with the same transaxle layout and engine type, this prototype is an extreme track car. It is not road legal and its performance envelope has been stretched to brink of rupturing."

Year: 2009
Make: Aston Martin
Model:#007 Racing Lola LMP1
Power: 650 HPs
Why It's Hot: "Step up to big-time racing in this stunning Lola chassised, V12 Aston Martin-powered masterpiece. Built to Le Mans LMP1 specification the Aston Martin Racing (AMR) Lola was tasked to take down the oil-burners at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of Aston's win at la Sarthe. In 1959 Roy Salvadori and none other than Carroll Shelby took out Ferrari Scuderia's 250 GT with the famous Aston Martin DB1."

Year: 2010
Make: Jaguar
Model: XFR
Power: 510 HP
Why It's Hot: "Any thoughts of Tata sitting on Jaguar's laurels go out the window with one look at the sensuous XFR. The regular XF, which replaces the S-Type, has resurrected the brand and given Jaguar a bit more spring in its step. The full-tilt boogie high-performance R model takes the XF to the next level, delivering performance and luxury in a neatly wrapped package. A totally revamped AJ Series V8 displacing 5.0 liters has been supercharged and super-tuned to pound out 510 horsepower and 460 lbs-ft of torque which puts the XFR squarely in M5 and AMG territory."
"

Year: 2009
Make: Audi
Model: #2 Sport Team Joest R15 TDI
Power: 600+ HP
Why It's Hot: "Audi's recent Le Mans success started with the gasoline powered R8's win in 2004 and saw its diesel dominance take full effect with overall 24 Hours of Le Mans wins in '05, ‘06, '07 and '08 with the V12 TDI R10. The R15 is the evolution of the concept. The powerplants hard specs include a pair of Garrett turbochargers, four-valves per cylinder, DOHC, two 37.9mm engine air-intake restrictors (stipulated by regulations) and maximum turbo pressure of 2.75 bar absolute, diesel direct injection TDI®, fully stressed aluminum crankcase, and a Bosch MS14 engine management system."

Year: 2010
Make: Mercedes
Model: SLR Stirling Moss
Power: 650 HP
Why It's Hot: "The SLR Stirling Moss is retro but innovative. There is neither a roof nor a windscreen to separate the driver and passenger from the outside world; they enjoy unadulterated high-speed excitement with all the attributes of a true open ‘al fresco' speedster. The body, a fully carbon fiber masterpiece, is pointy at the nose with deep-grooved accents and a wide-open cockpit. The humps behind driver and passenger serve as rollover protection and air scoops. Peak beneath the bonnet and you're greeted by a 650 horsepower, AMG-sourced supercharged V8 that displaces 5.4 liters. 0-60 whizzes by in 3.4 seconds and, if your hair can handle the turbulence, the SLR will top out in the neighborhood of 215 mph. This sparkling performance costs a petty penny, 750,000 Euros or a tad over $1 Million."

Year: 2010
Make: Lamborghini
Model: Murcielago LP 670-4 SV
Power: 661 HP
Why It's Hot: "The ‘SV' at the end of the name stands for Super Veloce, a moniker reserved for Lambos with a little extra punch under the loud pedal. Also the ‘4' prior to the ‘SV' equates to all-wheel drive. In this case the Super V its 6.5-liter V12 develops 29 more horsepower, topping out at 661 compared to 632 in a standard Murcielago. The added gusto comes complements of revised valve timing and alterations of the intake system. The hard data on the Prancing Bull's mid-ship-mounted V12 include an 88.0 mm bore, 89.0 mm stroke, 11:1 compression ratio, double overhead cams, variable valve timing and four valves per cylinder."

Year: 2010
Make: Ferrari
Model: 458 Italia
Power: 570 HP
Why It's Hot: "Maranello brought its A-Game, giving the 458 Italia the best of the best. Its all-new aluminum chassis structure has been endowed with a highly functional body the 458 has just enough resemblance to its predecessor, the F430, to recognize the bloodline. The 458 Italia is a combination of banned F1 active-aero technology and the voluptuous vision of the Pininfarina design house. The 458 features ‘aerolastic' spoilers in front that shape shift as the car accelerates altering the flow of air into the radiator and decreasing drag. Pininfarina provided the classic Ferrari elements; five-spoke star wheels, Prancing Horse fender badges and V8-under-glass engine presentation. But Pininfarina's sculpted character lines, flowing fender treatment, high-tech LED headlamps and scowling front fascia take the Italia to the next level."

Year: 2010
Make: Audi
Model: S4
Power: 333 HP
Why It's Hot: "The ‘S' designation means big performance for Audi fanatics. S models come with standard Quattro all-wheel drive, pumped up engines, big brakes and sport tuned suspensions as well as unique interior and exterior styling cues compared to its ‘A' designated siblings. With its penchant for poshness in recent editions some people say the ‘S' in the S4 has stood more for Style than performance. For 2010 the ‘S' stands for Scintillating.

The 2010 edition pounds the pavement with a direct-injection supercharged V6 in place of turbo V6 and V8 offerings found in previous S4s. The 3.0-liter blown V6 pumps out 333 horsepower. The new powertrain is only 11 horses shy of the V8 but provides a 23 lbs-ft gain in torque, enhancing the sedan's low-end grunt and overall drivability. Shifting can be accomplished with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. The latter delivering quicker acceleration and improved fuel economy, 27 percent better than the previous S4."

Year: 2010
Make: Porsche
Model: Panamera Turbo
Power: 500 HP
Why It's Hot: Because including a Cayenne in a DLC of "Hot Holiday" cars is wrong, the Panamera Turbo is the only four-door Porsche we'd consider taking to the track. Though the engine is on the wrong side of the car, the übersedan still puts down 500 HP from its twin-turbo V8. It's enough juice to take three of your friends and their golf bags to 62 MPH from a cold start in just 4.2 seconds.

The DLC pack is downloadable today and costs 400 Microsoft points.

We'll let him tell the story:

Guy came in for his 5,000 miles service......only took 3 belly pan bolts off and...BAM!...possum falls in my lap....looks at me like "WTF!?" and takes off across the shop hiding in some other guy's toolbox.

...scared the crap out of me... I still cannot understand how it built a nest and lived there for some time, guy drove with the possum wherever and got it back home, possum must have gotten out and went back in there (heck it built a nest)....

Oh yeah, i screamed like a little girl :)

I gotta read the fine print in my contract, I'm pretty sure it did not say anything about servicing any possums.
Lol the funny part is that i actually wrote on the warranty line (on the work order) "PERFORMED 5K SERVICE, FOUND LIVE POSSUM WITH NEST IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT, DISCARDED POSSUM AND CLEANED UP AFFECTED AREA."

We certainly wouldn't want to find one of these nasty marsupials in any car, let alone chilling out in the nose of a brand new Audi. We can only imagine the ribbing this tech will be getting. [QuattroWorld]

Between it's 3,320 lb-ft of torque and electric body, it makes our teslas coil.

We originally saw the e-tron concept in Frankfurt, but this is the first time it's come out in eye-searing emergency orange.

Even if it looks like the last thing you see before blacking out after a Vitamin C overdose, with true "quattro" coming from electric motors connected to the front-and-rear axles the e-tron is quite the electric R8 fantasy.

Germans can tolerate a 365-degree oven no more than any other humans: the worker pictured above is checking the frame for imperfections after it’s already cooled down.

Photo Credit: Thomas Ernsting

Although we brought you live shots of the new A8 last night, here's a slew of press photos and some more detail on some of the tech goodies this uber-sedan's got inside.Woven into the fabric of the new A8 is a ostensibly ridiculous array of technology. Things the average driver might use a dozen times over the ownership, but nonetheless are included just for the sake of Germanic-one-upsmanship. Take, for instance, the navigation system:

Through the fast connection the navigation system downloads three-dimensional satellite images from Google Earth and displays them in a bird's eye view on the monitor; the computer fills in the streets. Another expansion level provides full connection to the internet via UMTS, making the sedan a WLAN hotspot on wheels for a laptop in the vehicle. Furthermore, the WLAN can be used to transfer music from a mobile player to the vehicle's audio system. The customer can utilize all services with a cell phone; no separate contracts or fees are necessary

Although we're left asking whether this is even necessary, we know full well it is if you're a toupee-wearing luxo-barge buyer.
The steering wheel is equipped with a vibration-canceling motor. The seats heat, cool, massage, and probably offer a happy ending. There are 19 speakers scattered around the Bang & Olufson sound system for a grand total of 1400 Watts of power. Considering the system will be perennially tuned to the "Nightly Business Report" and the oldies station, it seems a bit excessive. The interior is awash in customizable accent lighting, not only in the dash and doors, but also the headliner at the upper controls. The multimedia interface now features handwriting recognition, or more appropriately finger-writing recognition:

The industry-first MMI Touch recognizes handwriting for entering Navigation destinations, and is backlit to allow it to change to a pointer for map functions, a number pad for radio functions and can be used to scroll lists in the MMI. This system recognizes Cyrillic (Russia), Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean characters

We'll be surprised if this feature is used more than a hundred times in the life of the car, people just don't go that many unknown places on a daily basis. Not only that, but we look forward to the first handwriting related accident (we know, it's probably disabled when the car's in motion, but it's still easy to poke fun).
Then there's of course the night vision system that's augmented with thermal vision systems, because, you know, headlights are for peons.

Shown in the driver information display, the pedestrian detection software highlights people and animals and determines if a critical situation is imminent. While Audi was not the first to market with this feature, the A8 brings the optimal solution with intelligent pedestrian detection and dynamic range adjustment based on vehicle speed.

This is just a scratch on the surface of the A8's long list of gee-whiz gadgetry but such crazy additions to the car's capabilities will certainly draw buyers attentions. Well, the powertrains will turn some heads too, we'll have more on those shortly.

We're uploading photos right now. Give us a second and refresh and we'll have them here momentarily.

UPDATE: Here's the live photos!

Here's the press release:

All-new 2011 A8 Normal Wheel Base (NWB) - Key Summary Points:
• The new generation of the Audi brand's flagship, introducing a new era in progressive excellence. Combining dynamic exterior and luxurious interior design with sporty driving characteristics, while providing the highest level of comfort and convenience equipment in the segment.
• The D4 (fourth generation flagship sedan) stands for a unique combination of aluminum space frame, MMI user interface, interior craftsmanship, quattro all-wheel-drive and adaptive air suspension.
• The Audi brand icon with the perfect execution of sporty, progressive, and sophisticated character.
• Differentiators from competition are sportiness, superior quality and progressiveness. Progressiveness is expressed by the A8 through technological innovation expertise and forward looking design.
• Showcases Audi design, innovation, craftsmanship, and excellence.

US-Market specific information:
• Key competitors are the Mercedes-Benz S Class and BMW 7 Series. Lexus LS and Jaguar XJ are secondary competitors.
• NWB shown in Miami. LWB is the core model in the D Segment in the U.S., and will be revealed in 2010.
Differentiation: The NWB A8 is positioned more of the ‘driver's car', with sportiness and driving dynamics in focus, while the future LWB will balance prestige, sportiness and comfort.
• Segment sales and pricing will be announced in Fall 2010 shortly prior to the vehicle's U.S. dealer launch.

Compelling Differentiators for the new Audi A8 in the D Segment fall into 3 main categories:

1. Exceptional Technology: Audi engineers developed cutting edge, innovative, and progressive technologies for the
D4:
• Audi Space Frame (latest generation all-aluminum chassis innovation). The 1997-2003 D2 A8 was the first series production car with an aluminum space frame, and the 2011 D4 continues Audi's leadership in aluminum design and manufacturing:
o 25% increased static torsional rigidity and new welding technologies which lead to better fuel consumption and better handling coupled with benchmark-levels of passive safety (all in comparison to the 2004-2010 D3 A8).
• Bang & Olufsen Advanced sound system (optional, BOSE Surround Sound is standard)
o 19 speakers, 19 channels and more than 1400 watts of B&O-patented ICE-Power output for a theater – like sound experience (previous 2004-2010 D3 A8 had 1000 watts in the B&O system).
o The system was designed and developed as part of the design process of the D4 to ensure organic integration. Audi and B&O: two great design brands working together for an exceptional experience.
• Industry-first full-LED front headlamps with high and low beam, daytime running lights, cornering lights and turn signals.
o Audi's leadership in lighting technology has turned the headlights into a true design element.
• quattro with Sports differential (optional) with continuously variable torque distribution on the rear axle
o Noticeably reduces understeer and increases driving agility and traction.
o The A8 is the only car in segment with all-wheel-drive standard, and the only car with the torque-vectoring differential available.
• Driver Assistance Systems:
o Latest-generation driver assistance systems; Adaptive cruise control with Stop & Go function, Night vision assistant with pedestrian detection highlighting, Audi lane assist, Audi side assist.
o New generation of ESP stability control with electronic all-wheel-drive torque vectoring. Integrated with Dynamic steering and quattro Sport differential when equipped. Cleans the brake discs and pre-fills the brake system pressure when accelerator released abruptly, improving brake reaction times.
o Audi braking guard (in combination with ACC)warns the driver of critical situations with warning sound and then braking jolt
o Automatic emergency braking (in combination with ACC and side assist) is autonomously carried out in the case of an unavoidable collision to minimize the impact.
• Audi pre sense (standard) in preparation of an accident:
o Reversible belt tensioners; if instability is detected, holds passengers in the optimal seating position.
o Adjustment of seats to optimal seating position.
o Closing sunroof and side windows to help shield the passenger compartment.
o Air suspension shock absorbers adjusted to improve braking and performance.
o Two-stage activation of partial braking
o Hazard warning lights activated

2. The Search for Perfection – in developing the D4, Audi spared no expense or effort to make the perfect luxury-performance sedan:
• Fit and finish, interior and exterior. Audi engineers are always challenged to find the optimized solution to design challenges.
o One example of this design focus and effort on the D4 is the so-called "Koenigsfuge", where the door and the dashboard meet.
4 different materials and design lines meet at this joint (wood inlay, aluminum inlay, leather dash, and plastics) and must line up on the door and the dashboard for the interior design to flow around the passengers. A compromised solution could have been to change the design to simplify manufacturing, but Audi showcases its quality in the A8 in many such ways.
• Next-generation MMI 3G+ Multi Media Interface with innovative ‘MMI Touch'.
o The industry-first MMI Touch recognizes handwriting for entering Navigation destinations, and is backlit to allow it to change to a pointer for map functions, a number pad for radio functions and can be used to scroll lists in the MMI. This system recognizes Cyrillic (Russia), Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean characters
These language capabilities will only be offered for each respective country, but nevertheless the system is a sign of the Audi international approach toward luxury vehicle development.
o Audi's ‘joy of use' concept for the MMI Touch provides the optimal solution for driver-car interaction.
• Night vision assistant (optional) with thermal-imaging camera (infrared).
o Shown in the driver information display, the pedestrian detection software highlights people and animals and determines if a critical situation is imminent.
o While Audi was not the first to market with this feature, the A8 brings the optimal solution with intelligent pedestrian detection and dynamic range adjustment based on vehicle speed.

3. A New Dimension in Look and Feel – the style, design and driving experience of the D4 takes the driver and passengers to a level never before experienced in a luxury car:
• Exterior design is clear and logical Audi design with focus on dynamics, generous proportions and elegance.
• Interior design focus was to give the sense of spaciousness, intuitive control, comfort and luxury. Elements
within the interior were designed to take up as little room as possible, e.g. the MMI screen which folds away. The wrap-around ‘skyliner' design gives a sense of roominess while connecting the driver and passengers, and the ambient lighting gives a feeling of ‘lightness' to the interior and a ‘floating' center console.
• New shift-by-wire gearshift lever in the style of a yacht throttle lever serves as an ergonomic hand rest for operating the MMI and gives the feeling of the ‘center of power and control' at the driver's fingertips.
• Audi drive select (standard) allows the driver to change the character of the car to their desires, and means that there is no compromise between a sporty and comfortable car.
o Adjustments include suspension, steering, accelerator, transmission, sport differential, cornering light and seat belt tensioner. Modes: Dynamic / Comfort / Auto / Individual.

Drivetrain Highlights:
• Optimized 4.2 FSI V8 specifications:
o FSI direct injection
o Audi Valvelift System (AVS) variable intake valve lift
o 8-speed transmission for improved fuel economy, responsiveness and driving comfort
o 372 hp (D3 A8 had 350 hp)
o 328 lb-ft (D3 A8 had 325 lb-ft torque)
o 0-100km/h (62 mph) in 5.7 seconds
o 15% improvement in fuel consumption estimated vs. current A8 (EPA figures TBD)
o quattro ® AWD – latest generation with asymmetric rear-biased torque split (40/60)

Frequently Asked Questions for the U.S. market:

Where will the A8 be manufactured? It will be built in Neckarsulm, Baden Wuertemberg, Germany. This is the same location where the R8, A6, and A5 / S5 Cabriolet are manufactured.

When will the A8 go on sale in the U.S.? The all-new 2011 model year A8 will go on sale in the U.S. in late 2010. (simultaneous with the LWB version, which will be announced to the public by mid 2010)

How much does the A8 cost? While we are not prepared to discuss the price of the new A8 at this early stage, it can be expected that it will maintain its relative position in the market, with even more product substance and technology.

How many A8's does Audi plan to sell in the U.S. per year? The D3 A8 reached almost 6,000 units (5,943 in 2004) and just under 7% segment share. However, the premium luxury segment is under tremendous pressure now (-46% YTD 2009). Even so, Audi plans to increase market share relative to the D3 with this exciting new flagship.

Besides the A8 NWB shown here in Miami, what other A8 models are planned for the United States? Today we are introducing the new A8,and its first model will be the V8 NWB model. Other models will follow to create a full A8 model line including performance, prestige and alternate-fuel variants.

How much does the A8 weigh? Official figures/specifications for the A8 are not yet available, however, the new A8 will weigh about the same as the current A8, even though the car is bigger (3 in. longer, 2 in. wider) and has more standard equipment (8-speed auto transmission, pre sense basic, keyless go, power trunk, etc.) Versus competitors: ~50lbs less than S Class RWD, and >200lbs less than S Class AWD; >200lbs less than 7 Series RWD and >400lbs less than 7 Series AWD.

Who are the A8 customers? A8 customers are highly affluent consumers with a median income close to $500,000, and are most likely worth over $1,000,000. Median age is around 58, which is similar to the BMW 7 Series, and younger than the S Class and Lexus LS. They are highly educated, with almost half having a post-graduate level degree, and are mostly married with few children still in the household. They enjoy traveling, both domestic (e.g. skiing/spa) and international (e.g. Italy/France). Typical publications that they enjoy include the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Economist and Barron's.

Yesterday, a high price and a peek under the skirt that resulted in some disappointment resulted in the Prince becoming a pauper as 62% of you told us twenty large was too much for a single-cam wannabe. Today's contender is the real deal, and it has but a single cam as well, however it keeps it on the down-low.

Upon the transfer of ownership of Auto Union from Mercedes Benz to Volkswagen, development of new Audi cars was halted. But much like a German Unibomber, Ludwig Kraus continued in secret to advance the progress of the C1 platform- to be known as the 100. VW leadership gave the car a green light for production having been impressed by a fully realized prototype, as well as some unflattering photos of them that Kraus claimed to possess. Well, that last part may or may not be true.

The 100ls arrived in 1968 and came to the U.S. the following year as a four-door sedan and two-door coupe. Handsome and conservative, the 100 looked like the form a front-drive Mercedes might take, and with good reason as the car is filled with elements of MB ownership. The 1.8-litre four cylinder is similar to the Benz fours of the time- although the Audi four is canted over at 40 degrees. Even its numerical nomenclature is Benz-ish.

The 100 did reasonably well here in the U.S., paired in dealerships with the much pricier Porsches, but durability issues and unfavorable exchange rates eventually drove down sales. That's unfortunate, because, had it been more popular, perhaps Audi could have been persuaded to bring over the lovely fastback version- the coupé S, an example of which is our subject today.

The Coupé S received a bored 1.9-litre version of the 100's four, bumping power to 113-bhp from the 1.8's 100 and making for acceleration that still belied the car's bodystyle as a fastback. The seller of this clean 1971 edition claims it to be one of only two in the States, and that may be the case as I've never seen one here, and I've lived here all my life. Also noted is the replacement of the Solex carbs with more modern Webers, but that the originals will come with the purchase. Unspoken, but obvious in the pictures, is that the seller is not an ace photographer. Still, he does have a taste for obscure and interesting cars, of which the Coupé S is in spades. In the car's favor is that, while extremely rare, parts shouldn't be, other than internals for the 1.9.

There's no Buy It Now option, so rabid Audi fanatics (you know who you are) will need to do the bid-wait two step on this auction, and while the starting point is $15,000, that doesn't meet the reserve, which remains a mystery. But lets use fifteen large as our baseline today, because this is too interesting a car to leave un-ruminated upon.

So, what do you say, are you willing to plunk down $15,000, plus whatever, for as rare an Audi as you are likely to find here in the states? Or, does that price make this an Auto Union that'll have to be without you?

You decide!

eBay or go here if the ad disappears. This week we are thankful for camp6ell for the tip

Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.

Most of the concepts have pretty regular wacky shapes and smart grid communications features the futurists are always in love with, of course they're all "green" and electric, but one in particular made us shake our heads. Whoever came up with the "GM Car Hero" needs a very stern talking to.

Some of my oversights were really obvious head-clutchers (e.g., Trabant, Saab 96, De Tomaso Pantera), while others required making all sorts of crypto-arbitrary judgment calls. In order to prevent the flood of hate mails I got from Land Rover, Jeep, and Toyota FJ freaks with Part I, we're going to make one seemingly obvious point even more obvious:
NO TRUCKS! NO TRUCKS! CARS ONLY!
Got it? And, once again, we're denying the Ford Fox and Panther platforms and the Volvo 140/240 entrance to this list. That doesn't mean we don't love those cars (in fact, I've owned at least one of each), but each underwent a major chassis redesign before it hit the magical 20-year mark. I'm still not convinced that the C2 and C3 Corvettes are the same car, and Ford's nostalgic reissue of a handful of ceremonial Model Ts doesn't add another year of production to the T's scorecard. Feel free to debate the merits of these decisions in your comments, but try to keep the venom level at or below rattlesnake level. OK, here we go, in order of years of seniority:

Morgan 4/4
54 years (1955-present)
When Morgan redesigned the suspension for the 4/4 Series II in 1955, they figured there wouldn't be much need to change anything after that. Engine suppliers come and go, so they've had to change powerplants every so often (the current 4/4 comes with a Ford Duratec four), but otherwise the Morgan remains pretty much the same wood-framed machine our grandparents knew and loved.
Image source
Lotus / Caterham Seven
52 years (1957-present)
You don't see Sevens on the street very often, since the racetrack is this car's natural habitat, but they are road-legal motor vehicles and thus qualify for this series. Lotus built the Seven until 1972, and Caterham (and about 500 million others) have kept the production lines going since then.
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Hongqi CA770
40 years (1958-1998)
Even the Great Helmsman himself needed a car, for those occasions when he had to inspect the progress of the Great Leap Forward, and there was no way that the People's Republic Of China was going to let the running dogs of imperialism outdo them when it came to classy luxury rides for important government officials. Thus was the Hongqi CA770 limousine born. It appears to have ZIS ancestry, but the Bamboo Curtain keeps such sensitive state secrets from our hands.
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Nissan President 150/250
24 years (1965-1989)
Until replaced by a stretched version of the car we know as the Infiniti Q45, Nissan's luxury flagship was the mighty President. The styling appears to have hints of Mercedes-Benz W123 and Plymouth Volaré, and power came courtesy of the President-only Nissan Y OHV V8.
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Trabant
34 years (1957-1991)
There's not much to say about the most famous Warsaw Pact vehicle of all: two pistons, two strokes, plastic body, and more than three million made. Primitive by any standard, but it put East Germany on wheels!
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Bristol Type 603
33 years (1976-present)
The case could be made that the 603 was really just a warmed-over version of the 1946 Bristol line, but we're setting the 1976 body redesign as the cutoff. You could get a 603 with a Chrysler 318 or 360, and some even came with factory turbocharging!
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Lada Niva
32 years (1979-present)
I dismissed the Lada Niva for its truckishness the first time around, but Unicmanest has convinced me that it's no more a truck than was the AMC Eagle or Subaru Outback. And no, there's no possible way to convince me that the Land Rover was really a car.
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Toyota Century
30 years (1967-1997)
The first generation of the Toyota Century limo, which was based on the Crown luxury car, stayed pretty much the same for 30 years. Why tinker with a successful formula? The "Toyota Hemi" V series V8 powered this perennial zaibatsu favorite.
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Lotus Esprit
28 years (1976-2004)
This was a really tough one, but I'm going to say that the endless series of minor mutations in the Esprit kept it essentially the same car for its run.
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Shanghai SC760
27 years (1964-1991)
It's tough to get good information about Chinese cars designed before Nixon's 1972 trip, but it appears that the Shanghai SC760 was an all-Chinese design and remained virtually unchanged throughout its production run.
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Studebaker Avanti / Avanti II
25 years (1962-1987)
I wanted to stay away from the slippery slope of replica cars, if only to avoid the nightmare of dealing with Cobra replicas, but the Avanti II was built using the original Studebaker frames and tooling and thus qualifies. The engines were small-block Chevrolets (proper Studebaker V8s being unavailable), but otherwise we're dealing with genuine Avantis.
Suzuki Alto / Maruti 800
25 years (1984-present)
The Maruti 800, still in production in India today, is based on the second-gen Alto. It has a long way to go in order to match the Hillman Hunter/Hindustan Ambassador, but 25 years is a good start!
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Rolls-Royce Corniche
24 years (1971-1995)
There's not much you need to change on a car like this, so Rolls-Royce stuck with a winning formula.
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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI
23 years (1968-1991)
374 were made. The Queen got two of them. Any questions?
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Wartburg 353
23 years (1965-1988)
With only seven moving parts in the engine, there wasn't much to go wrong with this East German machine.
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Audi 100 C3 / FAW Hongqi CA7200/CA7300
(21 years) 1982-2003
FAW (or some copycat) might still be making Audi C3-based cars in China now, but we can't be sure. We are sure, however, that the production run lasted at least 20 years.
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Jaguar XJS
21 years (1975-1996)
Should this car be lumped in with the XJ6, just because the chassis is pretty much the same? Blasphemy!
De Tomaso Pantera
21 years (1970-1991)
Can we write about the Pantera without mentioning Vince Neill and his ill-fated 3-block trip to the liquor store? Apparently not! Anyway, the Ford Cleveland-powered Pantera stayed more or less the same for the entirety of its production run, and we all want one!
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Reliant Regal
21 years (1951-1972)
Yes, three-wheelers with closed bodies count as cars. The Reliant Robin nearly qualified as well, but missed by a couple of years.
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Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
20 years (1955-1975)
I left the Karmann Ghia out the first time because it's just a Beetle pan with a sporty body, but that wasn't fair. The Karmann Ghia was a distinct model! Too bad the Brazilians didn't keep making it for an extra 30 years.
Reliant Scimitar
20 years (1964-1984)
The first few generations of Scimitar were pretty much the same car under the skin.
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Saab 96
20 years (1960-1980)
How did I miss this car the first time around? Its ancestry stretches well beyond 20 years, but a couple of decades as perhaps the best two-stroke car ever made is accomplishment enough.
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Cadillac D Body
20 years (1977-1997)
I was very skeptical about including this car in the list, but Cadillac ice-racer William sold me on it. He also came up with some exhaustingly comprehensive rules for determining eligibility for the All-Time Survivors list, and I'll post them pretty soon, but for now I'll just share what he had to say about the Caddy D:
Of course it's the downsized Cadillac Rear Wheel Drive Fleetwood/de Ville ("D" Body), introduced on Cadillac's 75th anniversary for '77. Built from August 1976 until July 1997, the new "Right-Sized" Caddie (and GM's first full metric car) came in a variety flavors (de Ville sedan and two door, Brougham & Fleetwood) and a litany of engines: The program started with the L33 425, last of the "big iron" Caddie V-8's (down from the glory days 500 CID and nearly the same digits in torque), and soldiered on with the most diverse/bizzare collection of engines ever to grace a motor car: 368 Cadillac "Sleever," LF9 Buick diesel V-8, 253 Buick V-6 (the first non-V-8 for a Cadillac), the "8-6-4" disaster variant of the 363, an Oldsmobile 5.6, and finally the Cadillac "GM Corporate V-8 engine of Tomorrow" (forgotten the next day) the All-Aluminum cam eating 4.1 HT. And that's just the first ten years. Sure the de Ville and Fleetwood nameplates bailed to the dark side going front wheel drive in 1985 but the Brougham soldiered on in venerable "D" body glory for another decade and more.

The engine-of-the-week theme continued with an Oldsmobile 307 LG8, Chevy 5.0L and finally the Chevy 5.7. With the beginning of the Republican power shift, production packed up and moved to Texas to be closer to oil millionaires who would soon rule/ruin the world. The 1994 re-deux took the "D" body into the world of suppository-based styling complete with Corvette-derived LT-1 350, but in reality it was just a re-skin with the same frame and underbody of Grandpa's car. GM corporate greed and America's thirst for pickup trucks finally made the plant more desirable for more profitable mobile gun rack production and the last GM rear wheel drive passenger car was retired, but only after Elvis and 1.7 million examples had left the building for the last time.

20 years? The (separate) frame, main body structure (more steel alone than most complete cars) is the same from the first to the last. Panel for panel all are the same until '93, when the got out the hasp and rounded out the edges. But nothing else built by Detroit comes even close, so I think we have a strong candidate for the something that was truly Big Three built "big iron" and didn't finish out its production life in exile in Argentina (though likely this was the car exiles in Argentina where driving)..

[Source: FlashRods]