Auto News 5

If you're in the market for a shapely sports coupe, six figures opens a lot of doors. $150k not only buys the best sports cars Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler offer, but also allows a number of talented outsiders -- Hennessey, Roush, Callaway, among many -- to further push the performance envelope.

What's the recipe for creating a niche coupe, using two of America's perennial top-selling sedans as a base? Lose the rear doors, craft an attractive rear end, and offer an optional manual gearbox to please enthusiasts. But unlike purpose-driven performance coupes such as the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, sedan-based coupes must capture the essence of the four-door original in order to carry its fan base. As recently as two years ago, the list of two-door iterations of sedans included entries from Toyota, Chevrolet, and Chrysler. Since then, however, the field of midsize coupes has shrunk to a number you can count on one hand. And with two of the standouts, the 2011 Honda Accord and Nissan Altima coupes, remarkably similar in terms of dimensions, horsepower, and price point, we decided to see how each manufacturer applies the tried-and-true formula.

Jeep's current best-seller and brand icon, the Wrangler, receives some major updates for 2011, most notably in the form of a new interior. Now that we've seen the fresh Wrangler in person at Chrysler's so-called "Design Dome," we can confirm that the changes are thorough and useful but don't undermine the vehicle's ruggedness or heritage.

All three major U.S. automakers have significant new products, even Chrysler. But the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, handsome though it is, and the redesigned Ford Explorer -- the most thoroughly revamped in its history -- will not recapture their glory days. The center of gravity has shifted in the direction of new entries like the Ford Fiesta and the redesigned Focus, the European-built Buick Regal, the Chevy Cruze, and (although you're sick of hearing about it) the Chevy Volt.