The Porsche and Piech families, which still control Porsche, set their signatures to a merger contract Friday, November 20, 2009. The VW board is said to also be signing off on a series of contracts, thousands of pages long, detailing a multi-stage process for the merger. VW said in a press release it wants the process to go as smoothly as possible and will propose a resolution to issue new preferred shares at its Extraordinary General Meeting on December 3, 2009. The new shares will allow VW to maintain its “medium term financial flexibility,” the company said.

via WCF

Next week, Volkswagen will introduce their live VW Desert Racer to the Los Angeles Auto Show. Until then, you’ll have to settle for the official Touareg TDI Trophy Truck Press Release and sketching from Volkswagen.

VOLKSWAGEN TO UNVEIL PURPOSE BUILT RACE TOUAREG TDI TROPHY TRUCK AT L.A. AUTO SHOW – First turbo-diesel Trophy Truck in historic SCORE series

Volkswagen of America, Inc. will unveil its purpose-built Volkswagen-Red Bull Baja Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck, powered by a clean diesel TDI engine, during a news conference at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show. The news conference is scheduled for 10:45 to 11:10 a.m., Wednesday, November 19, 2008, at the Volkswagen stand.

The Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck that will run the 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race in the SCORE Trophy Truck class is powered by a 5.5 liter V-12 clean diesel engine that produces 550 horsepower and 625 lbs.-ft. of torque.

Staying true to the off-road prowess that the Touareg is best known for, the purpose-built Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck takes the Touareg’s off-road tenaciousness to a whole new level. With a double A-Arm front suspension that allows 25 inches of wheel travel, and a 4-link rear suspension that allows 30 inches of wheel travel, combined with Fox Racing Shocks, Eibach Coils and BFGoodrich Baja KRT 37×13.5×17 off-road tires the Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck should have little difficulty maneuvering the highly difficult and technical 634 mile Baja 1000 course.

Chassis design and production was handled by Arciero Miller Racing located in Foothill Ranch, California. The Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck features a wheelbase of 125 inches, overall length of 213 inches, width of 92 inches, an overall height of 78 inches and weighs 5650 pounds. The Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck Body was designed by the Volkswagen Design Center located in Santa Monica, California. The Volkswagen-Red Bull Baja Race Touareg TDI is sponsored by Volkswagen of America, Inc., Red Bull, BFGoodrich Tires, Dow Automotive, Oakley, KMC Wheels and Fox Shocks.