I was going to run a story about the latest M12C McLaren if for no other reason than it provides an excuse to run a photo of a McLaren M8D Can-Am car. However, as I looked over the press release on the McLaren 12C GT Can-Am Edition, I noticed a link to a YouTube video (below). Curious, I went to the site to see what it contained.

I expected rolling footage of the new car — which has an unrestricted version of the engine in the 12C GT3 race car, as well as a passenger seat and an optimized aero package — and maybe some film of the Can-Am car. Unfortunately, it didn’t contain any video of the race car, but the beginning segment reminded me of a program I had forgotten; my idea for a series of commercial-like videos for Lotus.

A recent trip to Hyundai/Kia’s technical center in Ann Arbor jogged my memory and reopened my eyes. While touring the new environmental dynamometer test area, John Juriga, Director of Powertrain at Hyundai/Kia America, pointed to the barrels of indolene. This is the fuel the government mandates be used in testing for emissions and fuel economy. With 17 major fuel blends across the country and approximately 96 total blends (including summer and winter, as well as major and minor regional formulations), having a control fuel makes a lot of sense. With it, emission and fuel economy measurements are apples-to-apples.

I remember being at BMW’s assembly facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the launch of the X6. The drive event took place on a dreary, rainy day with walls of fog in the hills up and down which we would drive, and most of the talk centered around the utter silliness of this coupe-like SUV. Though I will admit to liking underdog vehicles (I have an especially soft spot for the NSU Ro80), I was the only non-BMW person on the launch who thought the X6 made any sense. Unlike my colleagues, I saw it as a sport coupe SUV, sort of like a Mercedes CLS for the faux off-roader. It struck me as the perfect transport for the executive who wanted the high seating position of an off-road vehicle, but not the boxy styling, utilitarian image or even the off-road capability that comes with those vehicles.

American driver Brett Lunger, Mid-Ohio 1976, just days after he helped save Niki Lauda's life.In the summer of 1976, I was fresh out of high school, and an avid fan of Formula One. My brother Bill had stoked the interest in racing, but we all grew up interested in cars as a result of Dad being an engineer at Ford. With five older brothers (including Bill) and two favorite colors (black and blue, you can guess why), I grew up in a house where Road & Track, Car and Driver and AutoWeek were voraciously read (again, thanks to Bill) and both Dan Gurney and Jim Clark were heroes.

In a feature on the Pitpass website, business editor Chris Sylt claims a prospectus created in May of 2012 shows the depth of Ferrari’s hold over Formula One. Like the novel Animal Farm where everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others, Ferrari is the most equal team in F1.

Here are a few numbers that may stun you. Chrysler 300 sales are up 40% and Chrysler 200 sales are up 265% year-over-year. Since its 2011 redesign, the 300 has seen sales rise 92% and market share jump 8.0%. If that’s not enough, sales for the Chrysler brand are up 200% in California, helped in large part by the introduction of the 200 S. It also has helped lower the median age and raised the income of the average buyer visiting Chrysler dealerships over the past two years. And all of this has been done within a tight budget.

Did Lewis Hamilton leaving for Mercedes force McLaren into Honda's arms?At least, that’s what Autosport’s sources are saying. This would reunite two companies that dominated Formula 1 from 1988-1992, a partnership that arose during Grand Prix racing’s last turbo era.

McLaren’s relationship with current engine supplier Mercedes has deteriorated, especially since Mercedes took control of the Brawn team. Poaching long-time McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton can’t have helped the situation.

Some had speculated that McLaren would develop its own F1 engine for the new turbo formula that begins with the start of the 2014 season, based on the fact that it produced its own engine for its MP4-12C and P1 road cars when it easily could have used modified Mercedes units, like Pagani. However, as a competitor to Ferrari on the race track and, it hopes, on the road, McLaren needed a unique motor to carry its name.

Unique it may be, though reports claim it is based on a design Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) created for an aborted Nissan Le Mans project. Working with Ricardo Engineering, McLaren redesigned the powerplant from one to be rebuilt after every race, to one that could rack up thousands of miles between major servicing. Developing a Formula 1 motor, on the other hand, requires cubic money and army-depth engineering talent. It also requires enough production/rebuild capacity in order to satisfy series rules and provide the same engine to more than one competitor. The last thing McLaren desires is to supply a motor carrying its name to a competitor that potentially could beat it.

Press days for the Geneva Motor Show are complete, and the doors of the Pal Expo have opened to the general public. As the lights and introductions fade from memory, lasting impressions remain. The most lasting of them being the utter insanity of those vehicles referred to as “supercars”.

The first look at the next F-150. But which F-150, a truck for everyone or a more focused offering?There has been a lot of talk about Ford’s next generation F-150, especially since the Wall Street Journal ran a story last year. In it the paper reported that the next F-150 would have an aluminum body on a steel frame, which drew denials from Ford. The upshot of the piece was that Ford, which has said on many occasions that its next generation of vehicles would be substantially lighter than the current generation, would have to use the lightweight alloy as it is the most cost-effective way to eliminate weight and improve fuel economy. And though it requires new equipment and some new techniques, stamping out parts or repairing them in the field is not dissimilar to working with steel.