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Preposterous as it may seem, until recently there was no legitimate means of comparing the trailer-tow rating advertised by one truck manufacturer with claims issued by competitors. That created a game of leap-frog. With the introduction of every new large truck, the proud manufacturer would announce some new high in the number of pounds that could be hauled or towed. That would prompt one or more competitors to pause for a few months before announcing revised tow ratings for their products which would of course return their progeny to the top of the towing heap.

Romeo, Michigan
The Ford F-series is one of the most important nameplates in the automotive universe, and we all know why: for most of the past three decades, the F-series has been in the number-one spot on the U.S. sales charts. If you thought that Ford would veer from its proven formula for the 2009 F-150, think again. After all, it was designed and engineered long before last summer's gas-price-induced market meltdown.

What a hard act to follow. The last all-new 7-series, the 2002 745Li, was welcomed into the automotive world with about as much warmth and adoration as a 41-pound newborn baby girl with sixteen middle fingers and a full beard. And it merited about as much media coverage. Incensed enthusiasts on Internet forums called for BMW design director Chris Bangle's head. The BMW faithful stumbled around dealerships breathing into paper bags to allay attacks of hyperventilation. Somewhere, someone passed out at the mere sight of the bulbous trunk lid. OK, perhaps not. But even we shockproof editors at Automobile Magazine were perturbed by the styling.

The auto industry may be coming off its worst year in recent memory, but you'd never know it from driving a crop of dozens of new cars, as we just did during our annual All-Stars competition. The level of excellence was high, and the competition was keen - so much so that thirty-nine cars received votes for the ten All-Star spots. In the end, though, our balloting produced a list of true standouts that span a wide range of the automotive spectrum.inline_mediumwraptextright27473782/features/awards/1002_2010_automobile_all_stars1002_21_z+2010_automobile+all_stars.jpgTrue