The flying car is The Concept That Will Not Die. And here's another version, the Milner AirCar, due to be introduced at the New York Auto Show later this month. There's absolutely no reason why cars can't fly, or why airplanes can't drive down a road. All it takes is wings and a propeller in the first case, and folding or removing those wings plus something to drive the road wheels in the second. Robert Fulton (grandson of the same-named dude who built the first practical steamship) did it quite well in the late 1940s. His cute little Fulton Airphibians flew lots and drove plenty back in those halcyon post-World War II days, when returning vets dreamed of a helicopter in every garage and Cessna was advertising its airplanes as being so simple to fly that you could "drive it up and drive it back down." But the current realities of satisfying both FAA and DOT regulations in the same vehicle on the one hand, and teaching a new generation of driver-pilots to deal with thunderstorms, crosswinds, icing, navigation and instrument flying when they can't even handle a half-inch of snow on a road on the other, give new meaning to the word insane.

Here's a tip you won't get from Warren Buffet: invest in Bugatti. You may recall Stephen Wilkinson's less than flattering blog post on the launch of a Bugatti with a slightly lightened version of it's 1,000+hp ubercar, the Veyron Pur Sang. It used a little more carbon fiber, avoided paint for exterior aluminum bits, weighed 200 pounds less and cost €1.4 million ($2.1 million). That was then. Today, finecars has one of the five Pur Sangs on sale for the "fixed price" of 3.2 million Euros. That's 4.8 million McDonald's cheeseburgers to you and me. Assuming some sucker a discerning car buyer shells out nearly $5m for the fastest ever Volkswagen, the seller will have made a tidy 230 percent profit. See? I knew that was going to happen. I really am in the wrong line of work…

After tugging their earlobe and saying Nano Nano, Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) has announced they'll start taking reservations for a U.S. version of the compressed-air-powered minicar later this year, for delivery in 2010. ZPM claims the car will allow you "to drive pollution-free and free of fuel dependency" and that "the air expelled from the tail pipe is actually cleaner than the air used to fill the tank." That is, as long as you're driving below 35 mph. Above that speed, you're fuel dependent, burning some kind of hydrocarbon to heat air as it enters the engine, delivering the supposed equivalent 106 mpg. The ZPM web site also claims the new car will top-out at 96 mph and offer an 800-mile range on the U.S. version "with supplementary fuel source." When you're not driving, you "recharge" the air tank by plugging into a nearby electrical outlet; obviously the "pollution free" claim ZPM is making doesn't consider the pollution generated from generating the electricity. But just think… an engine running on compressed air could bring a whole new meaning to the term "fart can muffler."

In the eternal quest for growth and profits, Land Rover is taking their image– which is one of the most focused in the auto industry– and stretching it to include yet another new soft-roader. Yes, rivet counters will recognize this as the same Land Rover LRX concept that we saw in Detroit, only spray painted black. It still looks pretty slick. But the press release just reeks of brand erosion. "The positioning of LRX could be described as moving subtly from traditional SUV to crossover, with its more car-like appearance and dynamics that are sportier and on-road biased." Screw that. Land Rover should be off-road biased. Although the LRX "promises the widest breadth of capability in the class" that means little when you're comparing its mud-plugging talents to a Honda CR-V's. Land Rover claims they're trying to gauge public interest with this model, but if you ask me, it's just Range Rover Sport redux.Hopefully, the brand's new owners will abandon this senseless pursuit of the BMW X3/Infiniti EX/Mercedes GLK/Audi Q5/Acura RDX, etc.

Morgan has long been known as the maker of quirky British cars with technology, materials and looks straight from the early 20th century. With the de rigeur pre-Geneva release of its jointly developed prototype Lifecar, it seems that Morgan has decided to skip a hundred years or so of automotive development and go straight to fuel cells. Based on the Morgan Aero 8, co-developed by a consortium of British Universities and defense companies, the Lifecar concept features a relatively small 22kw fuel cell. With supercapacitors replacing batteries and regenerative braking, the Lifecar is pegged to scoot to 60mph in seven seconds and have a 250 mile range (now why does that sound so familiar?). The key to Lifecar's performance: a lean 1,500lb curb weight. Morgan's woodworking prowess helped give the Aero 8's crash diet a little class, fitting the concept with a super-lightweight wooden interior and seats. Morgan is not ruling out possible Lifecar production if there's an "enormous response." And if the idea of a totally silent lightweight Coupe based on an unavailable fuel source doesn't tickle your "enormous response," Morgan might just throw in a pair of headphones which will playback the sound of their five-liter V8 in time with the movements of your right foot. Now where's that checkbook?

Ex-Toyota and current Chrysler president Jim Press says every car his new employer makes— or will make once the automaker starts/finishes their long-promised model cull– will be a hybrid. Eventually. Meanwhile, Popular Mechanics claims the Prez' promise was "the first by a major auto executive that openly embraces hybrid technology as an across-the board sea change.” Nope. As we reported previously, Toyota executive vice president Kazuo Okamoto predicted Synergy Drive would become ToMoCo’s default drivetrain. Anyway, we've heard nothing about/from Chrysler's semi-independent "ENVI" hybrid development team since the Detroit Auto Show's awkward concept cars. And speaking of champagne dreams and caviar wishes, Press said Chrysler plans to build and sell as many Chrysler-branded products overseas as are currently sold in the U.S. (roughly 2.7m units). Again, no idea of what, when or where. Why? Because they like you.

Whether in print or in their private thoughts, most Peak Oil believers grapple with the immediate effects of oil scarcity. They picture a scenario based on history or speculative fiction, refining their expectations as the real future reveals itself and like Kafka's ape, looking for a way out. In today's Falls Church News-Press, Tom Whipple postulates that increasingly precious liquid fuels will be allocated to aircraft and ships. Since cellulosic biofuels and hydrogen are not ready for prime time, he expects that our already available electric power grid will be the most likely ground transport fuel for the immediate future. But in Peak Oil prognostication, all solutions reveal even deeper problems. Electric cars may serve in a limited capacity, but will we have enough resources to actually build them? Will any but the very rich be able to afford them?

Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil is smart enough to have predicted the ascendancy of the Internet, the common availability of wireless (at a time when the great Bill Gates was busy hard-wiring his $40m mansion so that it could be "run by a computer") and the fall of the Soviet Union. Livescience.com reports that the inventor and futurist now predicts that solar power will be a viable crude oil alternative within the next five years. And then… "[Use] is doubling now every two years. Doubling every two years means multiplying by 1,000 in 20 years. At that rate we'll meet 100 percent of our energy needs in 20 years." Kurzweil  says you can thank nanotechnology, which will make solar panels light, inexpensive and more efficient. This could be a big deal. The sunlight falling on earth contains 10k times more energy than we use annually. If Kurzweil is right, we'll soon be energy-rich. (Rich, I tell you, rich!) Automotively speaking, a large source of cheap energy would immediately put zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars back on the front burner. 

Mercedes has announced another new vehicle for the Geneva auto show. Since they're too cool for the word "concept," it's called the "Vision GLK BLUETEC HYBRID." In caps lock. So remember it. It's a diesel electric hybrid, pairing Benz's well-reviewed 2.2-liter straight four oil burner with an electric motor. The numbers we care about: 224, 400, 40 and 7.3. That's horses, ft.-lbs. of torque, miles per gallon and 0 – 60. All in all, them's some impressive stats– especially when you consider that this is a big, heavy, boxy SUV (it's also noxiously fugly). The powertrain might yield truly earth shattering data in the C-Class sedan, but hey, this hybrid SUV doubles the mileage of the equivalent gas-fed V6, without any impact on performance. Diesel electric is also a nice idea because it minimizes particulate emissions when you start the car and while driving at slow speeds around town. The GLK goes on sale here in 2008. As for the powertrain, Benz specifically mentions that it meets America's "stringent" BIN5 standard. But not, perhaps, our aesthetic sensibilities…

[View the GLK BLUETEC HYBRID Pixamo Gallery here.] 

Thought I'd put the dimenstion in the header, in case you thought Maserati was green lighting this sexiest of all wagons (and yes I know the Sultan of Brunei has some bizarre examples of the breed). No, it's not the work of TTAC's house photochopper; the Five Door Maser comes to you via Italian coachbuilders Studio Torino and Studio M. Classic Driver reports that an "unnamed Middle Eastern businessman" commissioned designer Alfredo Stolas to build this beast, but I bet the 1/4 scale mock-up is just a come-on to lure a customer (especially as the article ends with a full press release flourish). Anyway, color me lured. And I love this description of the origin of the quaint term shooting brake: "The tradition of the bespoke shooting brake originated in the early years of the 20th Century, when wealthy British hunters wanted to enjoy travelling in a sporting vehicle while pursuing their game. British and Italian coachbuilders in particular have, over the decades, been asked to adapt coupés, saloons or even sportscars to accommodate the needs of the hunter in a stylish, elegant fashion." Talk about a killer station wagon…

Remember back in January 2005 when we saw the Ford Fairlane concept at the Detroit Auto Show? After that proto-debut, Ford started flashing around pre-production Flex at various events here and there. In January 2007, Ford brought the production version of the Flex to the Detroit Auto Show again. On sale date? Summer 2008, as a 2009 model year car. Three-and-a-half years between concept and production ain't bad. But the fact that Ford has been trotting around production-ready versions of this vehicle roughly 18 months ahead of its on-sale date, well that's just asinine. But not as bad as the price, which Ford announced today. The three-row tall wagon will start at an almost reasonable $28,200. Want all wheel drive? Want a white roof? Leather? Gadgets? It'll cost you, all the way up to $37k or more. At least it's got the 3.5 liter V6 engine standard, and eventually an optional turbocharged EcoBoost engine. I'd still prefer an S-Max or Galaxy, but that's just Eurosnobbery. If this thing was on sale two years ago for $4k less…

Toyota will introduce two new hybrid models at the 2009 Detroit North American International Auto Show: the third-gen Prius and a new Lexus-badged hybrid. Motor Trend reports that the new Lexus will be based on the Prius platform and drivetrain, aimed squarely at the "lifestyle wagon" segment. Offering Toyota's proven Hybrid Synergy Drive in a category of small but pricey wagons (think Audi A3) seems like a smart move; the "hybrid premium" will not scare away shoppers who are already considering dropping $30k on what amounts to a compact car. Unfortunately, the artist's rendering which accompanies this announcement looks like little more than the Prius donor car. Hopefully ToMoCo will put a little more effort into the looks of the final product.

This season the blokes over at BMW have blessed us with two relatively diMINuative product announcements. First, they showed us the MINI Clubman. It's antithetical to the MINI brand, it's ugly, it's impractical, the micro suicide door is only on one side, the barn doors obscure vision and it's ugly. You should hate the Clubman as if it had slept with your ex-girlfriend. And she liked it. As if that wasn't too much, this week MINI previewed the John Cooper Works (JCW) performance packages that will officially be unveiled at Geneva. Though hideously overpriced, the JCW pack gets 'er done, We're talking a horsepower boost (to 207hp), upgraded suspension, a new performance exhaust and some crass alloys. But the JCW's real coup: how it transforms the already ugly Clubman into the ugliest car currently on sale in the United States. MINI says the Clubman is a more practical MINI; with the JCW package it really is da bomb [paraphrasing]. I reckon it's so vile that it may, in ten years, have all the reverse appeal of the Pontiac Aztek.

[Pixamo gallery of the Gorgonesque Clubman here.] 

Officially, the GM embargo on G8 reviews (how quaint is that?) ends today. But since this is the internet, it means the embargo is over for everyone as soon as anyone decides to break it. [NB: any buff book or news source looking for a point man, here we are.] This time 'round, Motor Trend broke GM's embargo cherry; posting its homage de G8 on its site. Edmunds' Inside Line followed suit. And Popular Mechanics and Car and Driver joined the e-fray. In short, the G8 scoots from zero to sixty mph in about 5.4 seconds and… everyone likes the car a whole lot. As for TTAC, GM's press car ban remains the one embargo GM rigidly protects and enforces. Never mind. As soon as the G8s hit the dealers, my personal rear-drive savior has set one aside for a day for TTAC to evaluate. In the interim, enjoy the fluff!

[Pixamo gallery of new G8 here.] 

Did you know your car grows whiskers? The revelation comes via computer industry pundit Robert X. Cringely (nee Mark Stephens) on his PBS.org blog. Here's the deal… Tin is the primary ingredient in electrical solder that's used in automotive circuit boards and electrical terminals. Tin can grow thin crystal threads that can reach several millimeters in length. Unshaven, these tin whiskers can create short circuits that blow delicate electronics. (NASA banned the use of 100 percent tin in its components after tin whiskers disable three communications satellites.) So electronic component makers switched to solder made of a tin – lead alloy. In 2006, environmental concerns led the EU (so to speak) to ban lead in electronics. Cringely says this well-intentioned regulation means that today's electronics are THOUSANDS of times more likely to create tin whiskers than before. If you’re tired of buggy electronics in your car now, just you wait.