Porsche's 50th Anniversary 911 - photos courtesy Porsche

You've gotta love golden anniversaries... anyone who can stay married and still be in love after 50 years is an amazing accomplishment.

Same goes, kinda, for cars. If a car has been around for 50 years, it's worth celebrating. The latest to persevere through five decades is the Porsche 911, which was first shown at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1963 and has existed in one for or another ever since.

To celebrate, Porsche will be offering special anniversary models with 'just' the right amount of modifications to make them desirable without going gaudy. Based on the wider body normally reserved for all-wheel-drive Carrera4 models, the rear-drive special will use a 3.8-litre flat-six with Porsche's Powerkit already installed for a total of 430 horsepower. Every car gets active suspension (PASM) along with 20-inch wheels 'inspired' by the legendary Fuchs alloys Porsche fitted to its earlier models. Also, chrome trim up front and some neat details on the rear engine cover and rear lights hearken back to the original '63.

Interior upgrades are limited to fabric panels in the leather seats, along with a brushed aluminum Porsche Exclusive gearshift knob or gear selector, depending on whether the car has the seven-speed manual or optional seven-speed PDK fitted. Porsche says it'll do the 0-100 km/h run in just four seconds flat with the PDK and has a top speed of over 300 km/h.

Porsche is building 1963 of its Anniversary models (get it?) and 50 have been set aside for Canada. With an MSRP starting at $141,600, this 911 won't be inexpensive to buy, but would guess it'll sell out very quickly. The cars will start arriving in Canada this fall after being revealed to the public at the Frankfurt auto show this September.

By Greg Migliore, AutoWeek

Twelve-cylinder powerplants have been synonymous with Ferrari since the very beginning. From 1947's 125 S to the modern 599 GTB Fiorano, the Prancing Horse has made 12 cylinders dance like no other company. Ferrari makes engines glamorous, and the latest V12 rocket is revved for the Geneva motor show.

Ferrari revealed the F12 Berlinetta on Wednesday, and it packs 730 hp and 509 lb-ft of torque from a 6.3-liter engine (6,262 cc). Ferrari is billing this new supercar as the fastest its ever built, and that's reinforced with nearly breathtaking statistics. It can sprint from 0 to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds and clocks a top speed of more than 211 mph. That's a significant jump from the performance specs of the 599, which made 611 hp and is being replaced by the F12 in the company's lineup.

By Rick Kranz for AutoWeek

Ford will take the wraps off the Tourneo Custom concept next month at the Geneva motor show, a styling exercise that shows the design direction for the redesigned Ford Transit van for Europe and Asia.

Today, the light- and heavy-duty Transit vans in Europe "look almost identical. It is very hard to tell the difference between the two," said Mike Levine, a Ford spokesman.

"The styling now will be very different between the one-ton, light-duty version and the two-ton, heavy-duty version," Levine said.

By Diana T. Kurylko, AutoWeek

Audi hasn't decided whether to bring the compact Q3 crossover to North America, but it could happen in three years after a midlife freshening, said Johan de Nysschen, president of Audi of America.

"We have to look at the economic feasibility, and it has to hit targets. We have to overcome certain challenges," de Nysschen said at the Frankfurt auto show.

One big obstacle is price. It must be low enough to attract buyers but high enough to make a profit, he said.

By Rick Kranz and Diana T. Kurylko, AutoWeek

The sleek Volvo concept unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show is headed to production, said Volvo Chairman Li Shufu.

"The board has approved production of the concept, known as You, but the timetable has to be finalized,'' Li said during an interview at the Frankfurt auto show. He said it will be "somewhere around 2015."

It's part of the plan by Chinese owner Zhejiang Geely to move the Volvo brand upscale.

By Luca Ciferri and Bradford Wernle, AutoWeek

The Ram brand will get a commercial van based on the Fiat Ducato large paneled van, supplier sources said at the Frankfurt motor show.

Chrysler plans to build 30,000 a year in Mexico, the sources said. Chrysler already builds Ram heavy-duty pickups in Saltillo, Mexico.

The van will fill a hole in Chrysler Group's commercial vehicle business that was created when the company stopped selling the Dodge Sprinter vans, produced by Mercedes-Benz, after the DaimlerChrysler divorce in 2009.

By Greg Kable, AutoWeek

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler and its alliance partner Renault-Nissan have signed off on an extension to their existing part-sharing agreement that will see the Infiniti brand use the Mercedes-Benz MFA (modular front architecture) small-car platform that underpins the redesigned B-class as the basis of a new crossover vehicle scheduled to go on sale in 2014.

The platform-sharing agreement, expected to be made public at a joint Daimler and Renault-Nissan press conference planned for the Frankfurt motor show on Sept. 14, follows an earlier deal for four-cylinder and V6 diesel engines developed and produced by Mercedes-Benz to be used in the Infiniti M sedan.

By Justin Couture, MSN Autos

There’s no doubt about it: When it comes to throwing a pre-motor show bash, Volkswagen Group certainly knows how. After all, the Frankfurt show is on VW’s home turf, so if there’s any show to pull all stops out at, it’s this one. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s also the world’s largest.

By Michelle Koueiter, AutoWeek

The car-airplane-motorcycle fusion on display at Opel's stand for this week's Frankfurt motor show is actually a tandem-two-seat electric-car concept.

The battery-powered EV gets 100 km for $1.36 (or 100 kilometers for one euro). Opel says the concept--it hasn't disclosed a name yet--is one-third the weight of a modern small car. It reaches a maximum speed of 120 km/h.

By Greg Kable, AutoWeek

Audi has officially confirmed plans for a lightweight, electric successor to the A2--six years after the first-generation model ceased production.

Previewed by a four-seat concept car set to make its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show this month, the four-door hatchback retains the distinctive one-and-half-box silhouette, short overhangs and shallow greenhouse treatment of the original A2--still considered one of the most advanced small cars ever put into large-scale production because of its lightweight aluminum spaceframe construction and 1,973-pound curb weight.