There was a time where Americans had to wait until Big Game Day to see what the country’s most creative marketers had been working on to air in the singularly most expensive advertisement slots on prime-time TV. But with that ‘internet thing’ you can’t keep anything under wraps anymore. A full couple of days ahead of the big day most of the adverts are available online so there isn’t really any reason to have to hang in there and watch the game unless, of course, you like the American version of  rugby. We’ve collected and put all of the auto manufacturers’ Superbowl 2012 ads right here in one place. Aren’t we a nice bunch? Be amazed, be appalled, be disappointed. Let us know what you think?

It looks as if Toyota invests as much creativity in its ads as it does in designing dull and boring family cars. The one’s titled ‘It’s Reinvented!’ but we’re still trying to figure out what, you can’t reinvent boring obscure rubbish.

Another one from Toyota although, as with its cars, Lexus is more exciting than its parent, if only just a little bit. Lexus has even gone as far as calling its advert, ‘Beast,’ in the way that people ironically call their lapdogs ‘Beast.’ Very edgy for Lexus.

Hyundai: Hey, it’s different we guess. Hyundai has included people from its plant in here, so it gets a couple of points for company involvement, but the alignment to ‘Rocky,’ yeah, we’re just not so sure.

Hyundai, then, provides us then with a the perfect segue into the adverts involving movies, movie references and old movie stars. No one seems to have realised that if  they’d include Ryan Gosling, ladies will be in the dealership while the men watch the game.

Honda’s piss-take on Ferris Beuller’s Day Off gets Matthew Broderick clearly looking 25 years older than he did in the original Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and and places him in an ad that he will surely regret  one day.  What are out-of-work actors supposed to do, we suppose? We’d certainly fake an illness to spend a day in a Ferrari 250, notsomuch in a Honda CR-V.

Honda redeems itself (only slightly) with this remotely funny advert involving the Saab-loving, in the Seinfeld series at least, Jerry Seinfeld and car-nut funny man, Jay Leno. But it’s actually only the sound of the NSX that makes this advert worth watching — a pure tease.

Volkswagen’s ‘The Force’ advert last year with mini-Darth took the ad world by storm (49 million views on YouTube to-date) and went viral by virtue of the fact that it was cute and clever. VW had some pretty big shoes to fill and showed some promise with the teaser, “The Bark Side”…

…but ultimately let the side down with, “The Dog Strikes Back.” Poor form after last year’s great success.

Volkswagen shows that its alright to use pets, and so Suzuki also gets in the action with some pooches, these being some huskies in for a head-bopping time…

These are the ones that are actually quite good. Cadillac is first up with ‘Green Hell,’ a reference to the Nurburgring that unashamedly punts its performance credentials and actually communicates the values of the car. Imagine that? There’s the crafty inclusion of the advertising boards stating “Wir sind Opel,” “We are Opel” for the english types, which is important because this is the BMW 3-series/Mercedes-Benz C-Class/Audi A4 competitor. It’s clearly intent on telling the Germans that Cadillac is no longer a fat American pig and it’s roots, in fact, lie very close to home.

The former king of Superbowl ads, Budweiser has once again produced a hit and it only gets a mention here because there’s a car in it, a very famous car. And that’s what makes it funny and causes a smile to crack across even the most hardened 30 year-old’s face. The younger kids probably won’t get it, though.

Vampires are the rage. Everyone loves them, don’t they? Even Volvo. Audi pulls off a clever ad and actually ties it into one of its product’s selling features, the LED headlamps. Amazing what sticking to the basics can do, of all the leaked adverts so far, this is one of the best in our opinion.

Update: Chevrolet has held out until now so showcase five ads for Big Game Day and all of them are BRILLIANT, well four of them are. In our humble opinion, of course.

Chervrolet Sonic’s Bug Advert hits the cute spot with this one…

Chervrolet’s Volt advert gets the message across succinctly, “Smartest car in the galaxy” while dispelling the myth that electric cars have a very limited range. Clever.

Hitting the youth market and doing something clever, simple and effective but more of a teaser for the full new Chev/OK Go video on Sunday.

A very funny graduation video for Chev’s Superbowl Sunday madness.

Very emotive, brilliant. Very Clever. The advert for the Chevy Sonic.

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It’s the last show from the team for the year and what better way to wrap it up than with the ZA Car Show Car of the Year awards? Whether you’re looking for a hatchback, sedan, fun car, practical car or want to find out what each of the team picked as their overall car of the year for 2011, then go on take a listen, the results will surprise you, that much we are sure of.

The third and fourth doors are deceptively hidden in this image. Click on the image to see a full gallery and decide whether you like this new BMW or not (you will be redirected to another page -- right click and select 'open in new tab' to avoid this.)

The smart fortwo pickup expected to be unveiled in the US early in the new year. Our Trevor van de Ven is really excited about this. He really is strange.

The ZA Car Show Car of the Year features a Lexus, Honda, Citroen, BMW, to name only a few. Take a listen to find out what each member of the team chooses for their favourite cars of 2011.

Episode 144 hi-fi download (18MB) 
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As we wind down into the end of the year we start to get a little more festive, we mock Patrick about his new car a bit, give John a hard time and Trevor gets things wrong again.  The trio also bring you the latest from the Tokyo Auto Show, and reviews of Chevrolet Orlando 1.8 LS and Alfa Romeo 159 1750TBi.

The ZACS team agrees that most people could benefit from these types of cars rather than SUVs, but the rest of the market tends to disagree. It's a Passat with raised-ride-height, go anywhere looks and the comfort of a car. In a market that once featured the Audi Allroad Quattro and Volvo XC70, is VW crazy to suggest something like this even though it will be the better choice against an SUV. Click on the image to see a full gallery of the VW (you will be redirected away from the page. Alternatively right click and select "open in new tab")

in our opinion far more successful as a design execution than the BMW X6. VW's Cross Coupe Concept will likely become a reality and also shows of the changing corporate face that we're likely to see in future VW model facelifts. Click on the image to view a full gallery. (You will be redirected away from this page. Alternatively right click on the image and select 'open in new tab')

Trevor loves the Honda NBox. Yes, we know that it's just plain weird, but we;ve come to expect such lunacy from someone with his car history. What do you think? Click on the image to view a full gallery. (You will be redirected away from this page. Alternatively right click on the image and select 'open in new tab')

This is not a Toyota. It is not a Scion either. It is a Subaru, the new BRZ to be precise and you will notice that it has very little to differentiate itself from the other two. Time will tell whether the Scooby will get a turbo and four wheel drive in the future, leaving the other two in the current rea wheel drive, naturally aspirated guise.

Spot something different? Yes, it's the addition of two extra doors. And in this case it actually works at retaining the funky proportions of the A1. Click on the image to view a complete gallery of the A1 Sportback in various trim levels and in its exclusive Sportback colour, Samoa Orange.

Volvos with little blue Polestar stickers = not to be buggered around with.

Part crossover, part MPV. Click on the image to see the full gallery. Listen to the podcast for the full review.

A real beauty, this much we cannot deny. Even late on in its model-life this is a magnificent looking car that should outsell the BMW 320 and Merc C200. It won't, though, mainly because people think it will break, but probably won't. Ever. Click on the image to see a fully gallery of what you are missing out on if you dont consider a 159. Shame.

Episode 143 hi-fi download (18MB) 
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Our friend and contributor John Beale needs a new car so Thomas Falkiner, Christo van Gemert, Trevor van de Ven, Patrick Gearing and journalism student Dean Venter put their collective heads together to show what sensible options can be thought up if you crowd source.  The team, without Mr Beale who was eating sushi without us, also review the new Honda Accord 2.4 automatic and give you the low down on the motoring news from the past week.

The rebirth of the exciting Toyota. This flat four developed in conjunction with Subaru looks as if it has all the right ingredients to steal customers from the hot-hatch market. Click on the image to see a full gallery (you will be redirected away from this page).

Machbach is dead, Merc is pulling the plug. They are not the most handsome or striking cars but Trevor van de Ven still gets a bit teary eyed knowing that he will not see another all-white Landaulet again.

Patrick and Trevor love wagons. They also love Jaaaaags, so this car should put them both in a flat love-induced coma.

The new Honda Accord sports a dramatically revised front-end even if it's only the hawk-eyed that will spot the changes. Under the skin, this car is phenomenal. Take a listen to the show to find out what we think. Click on the image to view a full gallery (you will be redirected away from this page).

Episode 142 hi-fi download (18MB) 
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The Johannesburg International Motor Show kicked off for the public at NASREC in Gauteng, South Africa on 8 October. We attended the press days two days prior to the public show, and came away very impressed. In episode 136, John Beale, Christo van Gemert and Trevor van de Ven discuss the highlights and the surprises of the of the show. If you’ve not attended yet, perhaps this might prompt you to make a turn past there, and if you already have, maybe you disagree. Let us know what you thought about the show.

Take a look at the gallery of highlights from Day 1 of the Johannesburg Motor Show…

This Honda CRZ despite being labeled a 'Concept' was built in South Africa to prove that hybrids need not be boring. Click on the image to see the modifications under the hood of this car and some of the other highlights of Day 1 at the Johannesburg International Motor Show.

…and a gallery of Day 2′s highlights.

Another concept on show at the Johannesburg Motor Show, the awesome little Suzuki Swift Sport Concept. The real deal will be coming to South Africa soon, but click on the picture to see what the highlights of day two were.

The J, C and T also review the Land Rover Discovery TDV6 HSE and the Opel Corsa Colour Edition, a good value car for the youth or not? Listen to find out more.

We review this car in this episode, click on the image to view a complete gallery of the details that grace the Corsa Colour Edition

A rare sight is one of these cars off-road, but it's equally good on-road so we don't mind that, that is where most of them will reside. Click on the image to go to a full gallery of some magnificent photography of the Landrover Discovery TDV6 HSE that ZA Car Show had on review.

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The current Honda Civic has been successful in bringing fans back to the brand after a pretty dull seventh-generation of the model. The futuristic styling of the eighth-generation Civic did a lot to endear it to a younger buyer and, by and large, this strategy worked. So it’s great when we see that the 2012 model bears such a striking face, familiar with the design cues we see on the Insight Jazz and CRV Concept. It’s a litte more future proof by toning down the “futuristic-styling” part of the current, eighth, generation without making it too geriatric.

Looks familiar, a bit Honda Insight-ish. Less future, more long term good-looker.

Honda says that the designers of the new Civic wanted to keep the sporty and advanced elements of the car’s character but tailor them to communicate the new model’s more dynamic feel.

Not sure about this marketing colour, but it does show off the new curves better.

Nearly all of the body components on the new Civic have been redesigned with particular focus on ride and handling, reduced CO2 emissions, design and interior quality, while retaining the cabin, boot space and practicality – something which we can attest to. It is one of the most spacious and versatile packages in its segmenet despite a profile that suggests otherwise.

Like the current Civic 5-door, it has been designed and developed specifically for the European market and will hopefully arrive in showrooms early next year. With any luck there might even be one at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in October this year.

Sometimes the selection of colours from a manufacturer doesn’t quite cut it. If it’s not bland, it’s just not crazy enough. Since those who love cars see their vehicles as an expression of themselves, it only makes sense for them to be a little custom…

We’re not talking about “Fast and Furious” levels of insanity, here. Just a nice paintjob, or vinyl wrap for those who don’t have the balls to permanently drive around in a pink Bentley. Today’s selection of wallpapers shows off some of the eye-catching finishes on some exotics and a few limited-availability paint options on some other cars. What colour would you paint your car, given the chance? Sound off in the comments, on Twitter or join us for the discussion on Facebook.

*All photos are property of their respective copyright holders. If you see a photo that is yours, please get in touch and we can credit you, or remove it from this posting.

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John Beale in a Lexus joins Christo in a Mercedes Benz and Trevor in a Suzuki to talk about new Lexus’, new Mercs and small VWs. We also tackle the eternal question “What to buy if you have R300 000.00″ to spend and the results are quite surprising.

Join the team this week for more fun, news and reviews of the 2011 Honda Jazz 1.3 Comfort and Citroen DS 1.6 THP. Go on, have a listen or better yet, subscribe by clicking here and you will have ZACS delivered to iTunes every week without the hassle for free.

Cute little car. For a complete gallery click on the image.

This is the angle that you'll mostly see but very magazines seem to show. Still awesome looking. Right click on the image and click "open link in new tab" for a full gallery of the SLK55 AMG

Cars don't get better than this when looking at practicality versus space versus price. Click on the image to be transported to a full gallery of images.

Trevor loved it, Christo not so much and John was on the fence. Find out why by listening to the podcast. There are few things prettier than this picture.

Episode 130 hi-fi download (25MB) 
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We love special cars at ZA Car Show and there are quite a few in this week’s episode featuring Christo, Trevor, Patrick and John Beale. Expensive Bugattis get more expensive, BMWs get more strange, fast Mercs get faster and VWs bakkies get a little more agricultural, and more… go on, have a listen or just click through to the galleries below.

A Bugatti filled with fine German porcelain. Hold on that doesn't sound right does it? Click on the image for a full gallery of this one-off car...

It really is one of the best looking convertibles on the plant. That is until someone decided that a two-tone car was a good idea. Click on the picture for a link to the full gallery of this and the Limited M-sport edition.

The cat's out the bag. And it's a might fine looking cat. Click on the image to see a full gallery of the Mercedes Benz C63 Coupe Black Series

The most handsome BMW got more handsome, can such a thing happen. Trevor quite likes the Individual, but best of all he likes that it's available with a diesel engine. Click on the picture to see a full gallery of the M-Sport and Individual models.

Then just to bring things back down to earth or to bring the earth back down the construction site, the VW Amarok Single Cab. Click on the link to see a full gallery of this pickup.

Also in this episode, a full review of Honda’s lovely Insight hybrid. Trevor, Christo and Patrick give their opinions on this eco sedan – including explaining the differences between full and mild hybrid technologies.

Episode 124 hi-fi download (24MB)
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It’s an insightful week in the ZACS studios with Patrick Gearing and Trevor van de Ven running the show. From some special one-off cars, the duo – well, maybe just Patrick – also give you a good history lesson in exotic cars and badging and also update on the recently launched Nissan Micra, Bentley Continental Supersports SSR, and  review the Honda CRV 2.4 Auto Executive.

In this episode the show covers:
Mercedes-Benz’s SLS Roadster [via: TopGear]

Roadsters - good for a bit of sailing too.

Lamborghini’s super-expensive supercar, the Siesto Elemento. There are only 20 and they will cost 20 million Euro a piece. [via Autoblog]

Very very pretty, but oh so very expensive.

Alfa Romeo TZ3 which ia built on a Dodge Viper platform – it was commissioned by a wealthy German collector. [via NetCarShow]

Not bad for a Dodge Viper

Trevor van de Ven gets very excited about the diesel Porsche Panamera [click for a link to the website for price and specs]

A huge car, but it looks better and better each time we see one. Click on the for a wallpaper gallery of the Porsche Panamera

The Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible ISR is one very fast, very bold and pimping Bentley which is…very un-Bentley-like.

Bentley meets Porsche in a back alley in Boksburg. Click on the image to be transported to a wallpaper portal of this car.

April South African sales figures for NAAMSA and TransUnion’s new and used car price inflation index.
ZACS Launch Drive: 2011 Nissan Micra (click for a link to the model page for detailed prices and specs)

For its price it is the only entirely new car in its class. Not a rebadged old model

ZACS Review: 2011 Honda CR-V 2.4 Executive Automatic

Episode 115 hi-fi download (24MB)
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