Speaking of incredible rides - Here is a list of what MSNAutos touts as 10 future classics. Enjoy!

What makes a car a classic? Original and stunning design that translates into lasting beauty is a good start and can be all it takes to elevate a machine to this status. Exceptional performance, technical brilliance, landmark innovation and historical significance can also be key factors. Rarity or production in small numbers is another definite plus.

We looked hard at cars sold in the U.S. over the past five to 10 years that have a shot at becoming classics and highly collectible items. Some are obvious choices, others should be slam dunks — but a few of our picks might surprise you. Conversely, we omitted a few divas. And some inhabit the fringe and live for just a fleeting moment, in automotive terms. Only time will tell which of these will eventually stand out, quirks and all.

Go to MSN to read the entire article.

Here's a cool photo of a Ford 1954 V8 model car is parked in a garage near Havana, Cuba. That country has to be loaded with some old classics.

Here's a great photo of a sexy girl with a killer red Corvette Z06. The high-performance Corvette Z06 has a fascinating history.

Corvette’s legendary Zora Duntov first brought forth the concept of Z06. Though the Automobile Manufacturers Association had encouraged a ban on racing in 1957, which the GM chairman strongly supported, Duntov knew customers would continue to race Corvettes. In the midst of planning for Sting Ray production, Duntov suggested it was in Chevrolet’s best interest to continue with parts development to benefit racers. Thus, Duntov and colleagues created “RPO Z06” as a special performance equipment package.

The RPO Z06 package first offered on ’63 models included a 20 percent larger diameter front antiroll bar, a vacuum brake booster, a dual master cylinder, sintered-metallic brake linings within power-assisted Al-Fin drums cooled by front air scoops and vented backing plates, larger diameter shocks and springs nearly twice as stiff as standard.

These Corvettes came to be known as known as the “Big Tanks” because the package initially had a 36.5-gallon gas tank versus the standard 20-gallon for races such as Sebring and Daytona. At first, the package was only available on coupes because the oversized tank would not fit in the convertible.

The Z06 was resurrected in 2000 and has been around ever since. The photo above has a recent model, and a beautiful model to go along with it!

Great stuff. The General Motors ad that aired on NBC was terrible, but at least the cars were cool!

As you can see from this photo, the 2010 Jaguar XJ is a gorgeous car. The company seems committed to bold, new designs, and even the official Jaguar web site is beautifully designed.

Reactions are coming in from the auto press. Car and Driver proclaims, "At last, a Jaguar XJ that doesn’t resemble the one that came before. And before. And before."

Back in April, Jalopnik had this to say:

The current XJ, on sale since 42 AD, is a bloated attempt to pack modern luxury into an outdated design. If this shot is anything to go by, the 2010 Jaguar XJ isn't. Hallelujah.

Jaguar released this image to coincide with the Shanghai Auto Show, but the car itself will actually be unveiled on the Queen's soil on July 9th. Available with the pictured panoramic glass roof, a long or short wheelbase, A Europe-only V6 diesel or Jag's usual selection of 5.0-liter V8s; the supercharged 2010 Jaguar XJR will produce 510 HP. Sales should start at the end of 2009.

The New York Times reported today on the unveiling of the new Jaguar today.

Jaguar has two emblems, and each is a version of its totemic animal. Their informal names, the Leaper and the Growler, suggest two aspects of the British company’s tradition. The Leaper is a long, lithe cat, usually seen as a hood ornament; it signifies feline grace. The Growler is a full-frontal cat face, its teeth bared aggressively; it represents raw power.

The Growler may be supplanting the Leaper at Jaguar, to judge from the company’s redesigned and radically different flagship sedan, the XJ, which was unveiled in London on Thursday.

The new XJ replaces a sedan — or saloon, as the British charmingly call it — whose basic shape had not changed since 1968. The old car’s proportions were like nothing else still on the road; it appeared as long and stately as its bloodline.

“The XJ completes the family,” Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design director, said in a telephone interview before the unveiling. The big sedan carries out design themes that Mr. Callum introduced on the 2007 XK sports car and on the 2009 XF midrange sedan.

Jaguar also has a new owner, Tata Motors of India, which bought the marque, along with Land Rover, from Ford last year. Jaguar’s ill-fated venture into cheaper cars, with the X-Type line based on the Ford Mondeo, is history. And in recent years Jaguar has vastly improved its ratings in consumer quality and satisfaction surveys by J. D. Power & Associates and others.

The new sedan has a Growler, not a Leaper, on the front. “Aggressive” is the word Mr. Callum kept using to describe the design. “We want Jaguars to be noticed again,” he said.

Kudos to Tata Motors and Mr. Callum on an elegant but powerful design worthy of this great brand.

"The Hangover" is an excellent film, and the car from the film is memorable as well. It's a 1969 Mercedes Benz 280 SE, and I suspect it will get plenty of attention due to the popularity of this film.

One of the vehicles used in the film is being sold on eBay, though it looks like nobody was willing to bid the minimum amount.

That's pretty surprising. I'm betting they didn't do much to promote it.

If you haven't seen the film yet, grab some friends and check it out. It's one of the funniest movies you'll see in years.

The GM restructuring plan will kill off Saturn and demote Pontiac.

And on Tuesday, when General Motors asked the federal government for more bailout money, it also announced a reorganization plan that included demoting Pontiac to a “focused niche brand,” signaling that its lineup of vehicles would shrink and that it would no longer be a separate division.

To industry analysts and Pontiac’s longtime fans, the downgrade provides a case study of the product missteps that helped put G.M. in its precarious state, and a reminder of the dangers in straying from a successful formula.

“When you deviate too far from it, that’s when you run into trouble as a brand and a company,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book, whose 1968 Firebird made him feel “as cool as I could be.”

More than any other G.M. brand, Pontiac stood for performance, speed and sex appeal. Its crosstown rivals followed with similar muscle cars, giving Detroit bragging rights over the cars that Japanese automakers were selling based on quality and reliability.

Though still G.M.’s third-best-selling division, behind Chevrolet and GMC, Pontiac’s sales peaked in 1984, when it sold almost 850,000 vehicles, roughly four times as many as it sold last year.

G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, said the company’s decision to concentrate primarily on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC left the company with a “comprehensive portfolio.”

By many accounts, Pontiac started to falter when G.M. pursued a cost-saving strategy of providing the same cars to different divisions.

No kidding. It's stunning that GM needs an economic catastrophe to admit to obvious truths.

This is the best thing for GM, and for Pontiac. Now, they can focus on cool cars, and maybe even recapture some of the muscle car glory of the brand's past.

For years, the Big Three automakers fought efforts in Congress to increase mileage standards. Now we're all paying the price.

Given the gas price shock last summer and the current economic crisis, Ford is rediscovering some old techniques to help them improve gas mileage in its vehicles.

As fuel-economy standards get tougher, auto companies are peering into a future where next-generation electric vehicles and advanced hybrids beckon. But these days, Ford Motor executives have one eye on the future and one on the past. Ford is dusting off a host of old ideas for boosting gas mileage and slashing emissions. Some of these concepts were dreamed up decades ago, deployed in lots of small European cars, and vigorously promoted by environmentalists. But in Detroit, the technology has mostly sat on the shelf.

Not anymore. Ford now emphasizes fuel economy across its whole lineup. And for its 2011 Explorer the company is making prominent use of such "retro" green technology as lighter-weight steel body parts and "direct injection" engine technology. This technique, which dates to the 1940s, feeds gas and air straight into the engine cylinder instead of premixing it, resulting in a more efficient fuel burn. Together, the technologies could allow the new Explorer to reach highway fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon, upstaging Toyota's Highlander hybrid, which gets 25 mpg. "There is a lot we can do to get meaningful fuel-economy improvements without going all the way into electrics," says Ford's global product development chief, Derrick Kuzak.