The Motor National Monster Truck Show will be held at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Main Arena of the Forrest County Multi Purpose Center.

This event will feature monster trucks shown on television as they race to beat the clock.

Advanced tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12 on Friday and Saturday only.

Admission at the door will be $15 for adults and $12 for children on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, admission will be $15 for adults and $6 for children.

Tickets are on sale at Mack’s Mini Mart, TJs Western Ware and the Multi Purpose Center Box Office.t

General Motors fleet and commercial customers gathered at a recent lakeside conclave to view and experience the latest truck innovations and design for small to medium cargo applications.

Upfitters, companies that build commercial grade storage and cargo management systems for chassis cab trucks, were on hand to showcase their newest products.

Supreme Corp., of Goshen, Ind., drew a crowd when Bob Besse, director of marketing and product planning, demonstrated the company’s Astro Body, attached to the rear frame of a mid-size Chevrolet Colorado truck.

“Astro Body is a lightweight, durable cargo body that takes on the styling contours of the chassis cab for an integrated look,” he said. “It is specially designed with Colorado’s rear bumper, tail lights and door handles for a factory-styled appearance.”

The low-profile fiberglass Astro Body features large access doors on both sides, with dual cargo box-style rear doors. Gas struts allow all doors to open and close easily.

Other thoughtful touches include door handle locks that are keyed with ignition key coded lock cylinders. Each door also comes equipped with interior safety release latches.

A molded-in step well on the curbside door provides the operator a safe and secure footing when stepping in or out of the cargo body. A skylight and thick diamond plate floor with steel understructure is standard.

Popular body options include a back up camera, single and dual ladder racks, roof vents and heater/air conditioner system with dash mounted controls.

For 2008, Astro Body is available with a four-wheel drive chassis cab and up-level trim.

Astro Body is designed to receive a wide variety of retrofitted container packages and components built by independent suppliers that are uniquely designed to accommodate specific building trades or businesses with special cargo management needs.

When those monster tires from those monster trucks drive over those poor cars, ever wonder where the smashed-up Fords, Toyotas and Oldsmobiles come from?

“We usually get them from the (local) wreck yard,” said Steve Quercio, vice president of AMP Live Events, whose company puts on the Thunder Slam Monster Truck Spectacular.

Quercio said the cars must be flattened to make it easier for the trucks to run over.

The Thunder Slam Monster Truck Spectacular will roar into the Alabama A&M University Agribition Center for three shows starting Friday night. The Agribition Center is located at 4925 Moores Mill Road.

A limited amount of tickets are available from Ticket master for $10. Otherwise, tickets start at $17.

The event will feature car-crushing action from monster trucks Predator, Prowler and the one that started it all, Big Foot.

According to Quercio, Big Foot hasn’t made an appearance in Huntsville for almost five years.

“It’s going to be a real barn burner,” he said.

And if 10-foot tall trucks smashing cars like bugs isn’t enough, the show will also host local “tuff trucks” and “mud boggers.”

Quercio said anyone with a truck is invited to show up before the event and race against other local truck enthusiasts.

But if you think your four-cylinder Ford pickup is going to compete, think again. Quercio said the trucks are usually modified by folks who know what they’re doing.

Local “tuff trucks” will go head-to-head on a track filled with humps, bumps and jumps.

The mud boggers will race through mud to see which good ol’ boy has the best mud-racing truck.

The local truck races will be held before the monster truck races.

Allied Transport Establishment has contracted FAMCO (Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company) to supply 30 Volvo trucks for its operations in the United Arab Emirates.

The company, which selected the Volvo FH400 model with I-shift transmission technology, received the first vehicles from the order during a recent ceremony at the FAMCO headquarters in Dubai.

“Our fleet currently includes eight Volvo trucks and we have found these vehicles to be very reliable. With the addition of the latest Volvo I-Shift trucks, we will be able to achieve our objectives with much better economy and improved efficiency,” said Ali Beyat, managing director of Allied Transport.

“The primary reason for choosing these vehicles was Volvo’s superior quality and reliability, supported by FAMCO’s reputation for after-sales service,” he added.

Allied Transport is now planning to provide DHL with the vehicles to boost the courier company’s fleet network in the Middle East and support the recent increase in demand for express deliveries in the region.

“This order is part of our five-year strategy with DHL,” said Beyat. “We anticipate the supply of over 500 trucks for DHL’s requirements over this period time. The vehicles will be used to meet the growing demand for the company’s express service across the GCC and Levant countries and North America.”

Complaints: None at this writing. This is one of the best wagons available in a market that has few wagons.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent in all three categories for Point A-to-Point B drivers, people who want pleasurable motoring rather than racetrack fantasies.

Head-turning quotient: Luxurious without being over the top, and sexy without being trashy.

Body style/layout: The XC70 is a luxury, front-engine, mid-size, all-wheel-drive station wagon with four side doors and a rear liftgate.

Engine/transmission: The wagon comes with a standard 3.2-liter, 24-valve, in-line six-cylinder engine that develops 235 horsepower at 6,200 rpm and 236 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed transmission that can be operated automatically or manually.

Capacities: There is seating for five. Luggage capacity is 33 cubic feet with the rear seats up and 71 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. The fuel tank holds 18.5 gallons of required premium unleaded gasoline. That’s “required” as in “premium only.” If you want to use a lower grade of gasoline, you are hereby advised to buy something else.

Mileage: Not impressive. We averaged 14 mpg in congested urban driving in the District of Columbia and its Northern Virginia suburbs. We averaged 23 mpg in Virginia highway driving.

Safety: Standard equipment includes electronic stability and traction control, rigid body construction, side and head air bags and four-wheel antilock brakes. Adjustable rear child-safety seats are optional. We advise you to buy them if you are transporting small children.

Price: The base price on the 2008 Volvo XC70 wagon is $36,775. Dealer’s invoice price on that model is $34,604. Price as tested is $41,710, including $4,190 in options and a $745 destination charge. Dealer’s price as tested is $38,951. Prices are sourced from Volvo Cars and edmunds.com

Toyota Motors Corp said last Tuesday that it plans to increase its production in 2008 by 5 per cent to nearly 10 million cars, which would cause it to leap ahead of General Motors Corp as the world’s largest automaker.

Japan’s leading carmaker said that thanks to rising demand in China, the Mideast, Russia and other growth markets, it expected to make 9.95 million units next year.

Toyota and GM are now running neck and neck for the title of the world’s largest automaker. From January to September, Toyota sold a record 7.05 million cars, an increase of 7 per cent from the same timeframe a year ago.

That figure was behind GM’s 7.06 million cars sold, a growth of 2.4 per cent.

Toyota said in Nagoya that its 2008 sales should rise to 9.85 vehicles and should top 10 million by 2009, when they were estimated at 10.4 million.

For the current year, Toyota said it expected to produce 5 per cent more cars than last year at 9.51 million.

In an end-of-year press conference, Toyota boss Katsuaki Watanabe said that this year, Toyota’s foreign production should, for the first time, exceed its domestic production.

Rival GM, which has held the title of the world’s largest carmaker since 1931, said recently that its production this year had risen to 9.26 million vehicles, an increase from 9.18 million last year.

Toyota plans to sell 9.85 million vehicles worldwide in 2008, the company said Tuesday, setting an ambitious target despite worries about a slowing U.S. car market, as it tries to become the world’s top automaker.

Toyota also said it plans to produce 9.95 million vehicles worldwide next year, up 5 percent from this year — the same as the projected annual percentage jump for Toyota’s global sales.

Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., Ltd (GTMC), Toyota’s second joint venture in China, aims to increase its sales target by 17% in 2008, powered by launching new models and the expansion of output capacity, market sources reported.

GTMC estimates a projected sales volume of 210,000 vehicles next year, including 175,000 units of Camry premier sedan and 35,000 Yaris hatchback, which are scheduled to sell nationwide in the middle of 2008.

Driven by soaring demand in premier class segment, the company raised its sales target twice to 170,000 units this year. The sales of Camry, the only model of GTMC in the mid-to-high segment, beat Honda’s Accord as the year’s best selling model, and reported a total sale of 153,000 units for the first 11 months.

Yuan Zhongrong, the executive vice president of Guangzhou Toyota, expected the competition in the premier class segment to be much more intense next year compared to this year.

Its rival Honda will begin to sell new Accord tomorrow, with an expected sales volume of 185,000 units next year. In response, Toyota is planning to launch Yaris hatchback, the Japanese car maker’s global model, and to expand its dealership network to 180 stores.

Toyota, a leading car maker from Japan, has added capacity and is actively launching new models to grab bigger market share. In line with its expansion in China, the company expects to take a 10% market share on mainland by 2010, up 5% from last year.