Auto News 5

When pump prices soar and the economy dives, full-sized pickup truck sales plummet. With jobs and mortgages in jeopardy, who needs an expensive gas guzzler's fat monthly payments? This calamity and the bankruptcy experienced by two out of Detroit's (formerly) Big Three would normally send truck engineers straight to early retirement. Ford, however, never got that memo. A thorough overall for the 2011 F-150 pickups kept right on truckin'. In the teeth of troubled times, the class leader kept its head high and prospects bright for the post apocalypse.

Big pickups and little engines are a marriage made somewhere south of heaven. V-6s are for women. They won’t tow. They sound funny. They are impossible to sell used. These are the abject prejudices Ford faced when the need for a more fuel-efficient F-150 became inescapable. With CAFE obligations looming and the Ranger disappearing after the 2011 model year, something had to be done.

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.