With a burst of light and a swoosh of its car cover, the McLaren MP4-12C made its North American debut this evening in Pebble Beach. Gooding auctions unveiled the new supercar at its preview reception, the same locale that has seen the debuts of other significant vehicles from the past few years – namely the Rolls-Royce Hyperion and the Pininfarina P4/5. But tonight McLaren was definitely the star of the show. Besides giving Americans their first glimpse of its latest model, McLaren also talked a bit about the new company they are introducing to build and sell not just the MP4-12C, but a whole range of road vehicles.

This isn't like the way things were done with the F1, where it was basically a special project inside the technical and racing operations...no, it's a whole new passenger car company that will have an assortment of vehicles apparently. In fact, McLaren Automotive has already announced the list of 35 cities that will be hosting McLaren dealerships, and the rumor mill is in full swing telling us that a successor to the big-daddy F1 is in the cards for as early as 2012. The last bit of info we gleened from the presentation was that they seemed to talk a lot about their winning history in both Formula 1 and sports car racing and how they love to win. Perhaps a not-so-subtle hint that a racing version of the MP4-12C will be built? Makes sense to us. While we're waiting for spy shots of that project, do yourself a favor and check out the hot new McLaren in our gallery below.



Photos Copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

Bugatti made big news last month when it unveiled the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. The 1200-horsepower supercar smashed the production car speed record by reaching nearly 268 mph at the Volkswagen proving grounds, and it even made the fastest ever lap around the Top Gear test track in the hands of the Stig.

We've previously only seen pictures of just one Super Sport model – the record-setting car with the polarizing orange and black paint scheme – but now we know that the Bugatti factory has spewed out at least two examples. The Super Sport made its North American debut at the Quail Motorsports Gathering earlier today with gorgeous blue carbon fiber paint. We have to say we much prefer it over its counterpart.

We've heard the record-setting Super Sport is also in town and will be at Laguna Seca, so we'll hopefully be able to bring you more photos of that car, and expect plenty more coverage from the Quail Motorsports Gathering throughout this weekend.



Photos Copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

Having food in your car is usually a bad idea, as leaving your lunch on the seat can make the whole interior stink, or, even worse, attract bears. One Colorado teen recently learned this lesson the hardest way possible, as a peanut butter sandwich left on his back seat attracted a black bear with the unusual skill of grand theft auto.

Police estimate that the bear was searching out a midnight snack and opened the door of this kid's unlocked Toyota Corolla on his own and entered the vehicle. When the door somehow closed on its own, the bear went from Yogi looking for a pic-a-nick basket to something out of the Exorcist. At some point during the bear's utter smackdown of the Corolla's interior, the transmission made its way out of Park, sending the compact sedan and it's assuredly un-licensed driven rolling down the driveway and into the woods. There's no explanation of how the bear eventually exited the Corolla, but we do know he left behind a large steaming present on the driver seat.

Follow the jump to check out the carnage. The first clip is of a British news show that provides most of the details, including images of the bear inside the Corolla, and the second clip is a grand tour of the devastation from the Colorado teen himself.

[Source: YouTube]

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The Monterey auctions kicked off last night with a special Ford-only sale put on by RM. Despite an offering of significant race cars and a slew of concept cars, bidding was sluggish and many of the final sale prices were well below the pre-auction estimates. Some of the concepts like the 2000 Ford Prodigy Concept and the 2002 Lincoln Coninental Concept Shell sold for just $14,000 each, while many of the high profile cars sold for less than half the estimates. The 2003 Ford Supercharged Thunderbird Concept went for $60,000, the 2004 Lincoln Mark X Concept sold for $92,500, and the 2004 Ford Mustang GT-R Concept went to a bidder who only had to fork over $100,000.

The top sales of the day were actually a pair of Lincolns, one a 1962 Continental "Bubbletop" Kennedy Limousine ($429,000) and the other a 1933 KB Custom Dietrich Convertible Sedan ($385,000). Some most significant cars were no-sales, including a 1903 Ford Model A that is the oldest existing Ford ever sold (high bid of $325,000) and a 1964 Cooper Ford "King Cobra" that didn't meet the reserve at $450,000.

You can see the Ford concept cars and many of the other vehicles at RM's Thursday night auction in the gallery below, and be sure to check back for more auction photos and results this weekend.



Photos Copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

Few things get the automotive universe fired up quite like a good old-fashioned grudge match, and from the sound of things, we may be on the verge of seeing the battle royale with the cheese of grudge matches. Evidently, Top Gear's Bill Thomas was strolling around the Koenigsegg factory shortly after Bugatti launched the Veryon Super Sport to 267.81 mph.

At the time, the Bug's record-breaking drive was still confidential knowledge, but being the kind of bloke we wouldn't mind buying a beer, Thomas felt the need to share Bugatti's accomplishment with Koenigsegg boss Christian von Koenigsegg, potentially igniting a powder keg of speed and competition the likes of which the production auto world hasn't seen in quite some time.

Apparently, upon hearing the news that the Veryon Super Sport was now top dog of the production car world, Koenigsegg immediately began rattling off possible places to do his own high-speed testing with his newest machine, the Agera. That sounds an awful lot like we can expect a new Swedish sports machine to arrive any time to attempt to whisk the title away from the French. And there might even be a little three-way action from America's Shelby SuperCars. See? Isn't competition fun?



[Source: Top Gear]

Well aren't you all a lucky bunch today... getting a double-shot of Jay Leno action. When we touched on CamberTires earlier this week, there was some debate as to whether the new rollers was the next big thing or the next automotive gimmick. We haven't entirely made up our own minds one way or the other, but as the comments illustrated in the last post, Jay Leno has beaten us to taking a closer look the new tire design.

Inventor John Scott stopped by for an episode of Jay Leno's Garage to show off his wares and to attempt to convince the rest of us that the CamberTire could actually increase grip, reduce tire ware and generally improve the handling dynamics of a vehicle.

For this particular episode, Leno solicited the help of a stand in pilot to lend his opinions, so you won't see the comedian himself put the CamberTire through its paces. Instead, Leno's own tame racing driver took a Mitsubishi Evo X through the canyons around the garage for a quick thrashing. You can watch the video after the jump for yourself to see if it answers any of your questions. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]

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Oh, Mercedes. When will you learn that the CLC was just a bad idea? BMW did so with the chopped-trunk 318ti, but Mercedes seems determined to make its counterpart work. To that end, the Silver Star automaker is reportedly working on a new derivative.

Drawing its inspiration from the CLS Shooting Break concept (pictured above) and its underpinnings from the B-Class, the CLC Shooting Brake (hopefully they'll get the spelling right this time) is expected to slot in below the C-Class Estate wagon, but presumably with a svelter roofline.

That doesn't mean they'll get the door count right though: the jury's still out on whether it'll be a proper shooting brake with three doors (like the existing CLC, but longer) or five doors like a conventional wagon. Engine options, meanwhile, are tipped to revolve around turbocharged fours, ranging from 108 horsepower and 1.2 liters to a 272-hp CLC22 AMG with 4Matic all-wheel drive. Sources expect the CLC Shooting Brake to arrive around September 2013.




[Sources: Autobild]

Last week's American Le Mans Series race at Mid-Ohio was a nail-biter right down to the checkered flag with lots of action in each of the four classes. Unfortunately, the race wasn't shown live on TV... though it was streamed over the interwebz. If you missed the action the first time around, you can catch yourself up this Sunday in an interesting new way.

Intersport Productions, the creators of one of the greatest racing films ever, Truth in 24, has applied its skills to the Mid-Ohio footage. The cameras were rolling throughout the weekend and the editors have spent this week putting together a 90-minute special that apparently goes beyond just the race to tell a narrative about the whole process of competition. The docu-drama, called Road Warriors, will air this Sunday, August 15, at 12:30pm EDT on CBS.



[Source: American Le Mans Series]

The gang at Hurst Performance Vehicles are unleashing their first ever turbocharged machine in honor of the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the BFGoodrich Radial T/A. Only 50 of the Redline Series Hurst Camaros are to be produced annually with each powered by a force-fed 3.6-liter V6. Power will flow to 18-inch Hurst T1 wheels with new Radial T/A Spec tires.

Hurst installs what it calls a "remoted-mounted" turbocharger on its modified exhaust, which actually doesn't sound like a very good idea if you're concerned about lag. Output should be about 360 horsepower and 320 pound-feet at the rear wheels – a 50-percent bump from stock. Inside, the turbocharged Camaro gets a pistol grip shift lever, custom leather upholstery and floor mats and an optional gauge package.

The Redline Series Camaro will sticker in the mid-$50,000 range depending on the options selected.



[Source: Motor Trend]