Goodness gracious, but the re-born Volkswagen Phaeton [as spied by AutoExpress] sure looks like a giant Passat. If anything, it might even be less distinctive than the old version. Because sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way. Twice.

If there’s anything “wrong” with the Ferrari 599 GTO, it’s that they’re only building 599 of them. Which in turn guarantees that it will end up being more of a “my oil well’s proven reserves are bigger than yours” trophy than the road warrior it’s allegedly supposed to be. Otherwise it’s just 670 HP of 208 MPH, heritage-named goodness. A regular 599 starts at around $335,000 new, provided you’ve already bought a used Fezza and given Luca DiMontezemolo a sensual massage within the last six months… any guesses what the GTO’s premium will run? It’s looking like it could hit $100k, which is mighty healthy for a .35 second improvement in 0-60 time.

Just as certain celebrities reach a critical mass of surgical alterations, where a new nose or chin can go completely unnoticed, the 2011 update to the Audi TT barely registers. And like any aging celeb, it looks remarkably good… until you put it next to a photo of an original. Compared to Peter Schreyer’s timeless bauhaus lines, the TT is showing the wear and tear of Hollywood living, with its heavy eyeliner and tacked-on curves. Not that we’d turn down a date, mind you…

Due to the poor planning of yours truly, TTAC won’t have its own New York Auto Show photography until a bit later in the week. But then, it’s also beginning to look like Toyota won’t have a real sports coupe worth mentioning until the FT-86 comes out sometime around 2012. Hey, nobody’s perfect. Meanwhile, let’s try to enjoy what we do have: press shots of a warmed-over, front-drive cute-coupe. Scion swears the tC’s 2.5 liter engine and platform (McPherson front/Double Wishbone rear) are “all new,” but it’s not enough to make you forget that a $25k, RWD, boxer-engined “true” sports coupe is coming from Toyota in a few short years. Which is good for patient enthusiasts, but not so great for the Scion brand.

Mercedes has released official images of its hinted-at R-Class facelift, which brings the unloved crossover’s looks closer to the brand’s better-selling SUVs. But will it improve the model’s moribund sales? Probably not. Status-seeking family-haulers in the US will keep buying GLs, and sniggering softly when they drive past folks in their Pacifica-like Rs. Sometimes it’s a good day to die, and sometimes it’s a good day to get a facelift. For the Mercedes R-Class, today is the former kind of day.

How can it be that Subaru is simultaneously so easy to love and so easy to hate? Under the sheetmetal, the company sells some of the most capable and characterful automotive technology in a market that’s otherwise flooded with bland homogeneity. But then there’s the damn sheetmetal. Subaru has “upgraded” the 2011 WRX with the swollen, anabolic looks of the STI, which might look decent in hatch form, but as a sedan (and like all Impreza sedans since the first generation) it’s just plain unfortunate. If only Subaru had snagged Peter Schreyer before Kia did… [via Autoblog]

Statistically speaking, it’s a little early to be ragging on the baby boomers. In addition to numerical advantages, the boomers also haven’t slipped fully into retirement, meaning mainstream culture will be stuck for a little longer in the era of unrepentantly rosy nostalgia. And though the pasturing of America’s second-greatest-by-default generation will be ruinous for little things like government entitlement programs, the benefits to important stuff like car design will be profound. Unlike subsequent generations, the baby boomers still had the privilege of living during the golden age of the automobile, a time before Detroit’s decline, the massive government regulation of safety and emission standards, and the general blandifying of the car. As a result, boomers bring a bizarrely retro-sensibility to the modern car market, not just for restored classics, and retro-muscle cars, but for the vehicles that brought an end to the era of Detroit Baroque. Which is where things get interesting.

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What was once merely a tastelessly expensive and unnecessary car has been transformed by tuners into a full-fledged affront to nature at the 2010 Bodensee Tuning World show [via Autobild].

In the early days of McLaren’s MP4-12C development, it was suggested that the new mid-engine supercar would use AMG’s 6.2 liter V8. As things got awkward between Mercedes and McLaren though, a mysterious “German-built V10” was rumored to be have replaced the AMG unit under at least one testing prototype. In the end, McLaren built its own engine, the M838T. It’s a twin-turbocharged, direct-injected, 3.8 litre, 90° V8, developing about 600 horsepower at 8,500 RPM. 80 percent of its 442 lb-ft of torque is reportedly available under 2,000 RPM. Also, it looks like mechanical sex.

Alfa Romeo has launched an official fine art collection, which can be found at www.alfaromeoart.com. With their gracious permission, we bring you this selection of some of the luscious images now on sale there. Too bad none of them answer any of the pressing questions facing Alfa today.

How could the whole Toyota iQ-rebadging situation get any more embarrassing for Aston-Martin? The answer is staring you in the face. The Aston Cygnet is rapidly becoming one for the history books [via Autocar.co.uk]

How about 7 minutes and 48 seconds worth of Nissan Juke B-rolls? That this car exists isn’t puzzling: Europe is forever producing bizarre little segment-busters that look like they were styled by an eldritch abomination. What boggles the mind is that Nissan is going to try to sell this Versa-based “crossunder” in the US. Stare at the footage for a bit and try to imagine what business in your community you could see one of these in front of, and you’ll see what we’re on about. [Warning: more than 3 minutes of uninterrupted viewing could cause complete loss of sanity and/or a new appreciation for Toyota-bland styling]

Previous-gen Kia Sorento or Mercedes ML? Well, which is it gonna be, HuangHai Landscape? [via Autobild.de]

Just as Toyota has coasted in recent years on a reputation built some time ago, Audi’s latest round of interior-cheapening has gone largely unremarked-upon in the motoring press. Sitting in the new A4, I don’t find myself thinking, as Motor Trend did, that its “high-quality materials and clean, attractive design continue to live up to Audi’s stellar reputation as the industry benchmark.” In fact, the interiors of nearly every current Audi (except the A8 and TT) strike me as cheap, disappointing and monumentally uninspired. In other words, the opposite of living up to Audi’s reputation.

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