Actually, I think this conversion—brought to us by the good people at Ricedexotics.com— took some real balls. The Veylet or Bentron is an automotive middle finger to all those people who view automotive heritage as anything worth noting, protecting or projecting. The question here is . . . who? Nouveau riche, of course. But after that, what? They like the Veyron’s nose but can’t afford the real thing, so figured why not stick it on something “exotic”? And then there’s the question of copyright infringement. VW (Bugatti) and BMW (Bentley) must have scouts roaming the Far East looking for branded knocks offs, so why haven’t they— oh wait. Never mind.

Climate change protesters bring their best argument to Jeremy Clarkson’s front drive [via the BBC].

Mazda’s latest concept only weighs 2,194 pounds, and it’s got a grin to prove it.

And that, friends, is why the Tesla weighs almost 800 pounds more than an Elise.

Bugatti’s newest concept, the Galibier, has hit the autoblogopshere, revealing a long, low, shapely . . . hatchback. Luckily it’s a really extra special opulent hatchback with eight exhaust pipes and a name jacked from an Alpine pass (and the Bugatti history books). Otherwise one might be tempted to call it rude things . . . like the grandchild of a Bentley Continental, the Chrysler 200C concept, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a church organ. Start saving those millions!

Read More >

[Thanks to Ron Larsen for the link.]

Read More >

[Thanks to Ciaran for the link]

Hyundai’s ix-Metro concept scuttles out from behind a rock and ends up on Autoexpress.

We haven’t been posting on all the twist and turns of this story and certainly not with the flair and insight of former TTACer and current Autoblogger Jonny Lieberman (nor his Knight Riding cohort Mr. Nunez). But the gist is simple enough: 1. Honda designs an ugly CUV. 2. Honda releases images of ugly CUV. 3. The internet explodes with surfers crying “Whoa, Dude! That CUV is UGLY!” 4. Honda’s Facebook page is inundated with posters informing the company of this opinion 5. Honda blames its own photographs, claiming the ugly CUV looks better in the flesh 6. Honda tries again, with photos of a red-colored example of their ugly CUV. 7. No one is convinced. The internet sniggers at Honda’s Old School PR efforts. 8. Honda removes the pictures from Facebook, clears off their entire wall and prevents new posts. 9. Honda leaves the “new” images on their main website under “future cars.” Talk about managing expectations. Or not.

Ford previews its next-generation Focus C-Max. As a global product, it should be one of several Europe-derived models heading stateside in a few years. Maximum Bob Lutz could not be reached for maximum comment.

The Accord Crosstour gets a mixed welcome from the Facebook crowd. [Hat Tip: Mr Sparky]