The Auto Industry’s regulars will be sharing space this year in Detroit with the fuel efficient X-Prize entrants at this years North American International Auto Show. The goal of the X-Prize is to encourage teams and corporations to “design viable, clean and super-efficient cars that people want to buy.” To that end the organizers of the Automotive X-Prize have amassed a reward of $10,000,000 for the car that is deemed the best among them.

The Detroit Auto Show in January will be the first chance that the general public will be able to look over all the participating vehicles and to determine for themselves if the innovations on display are ready for the road. Pictured above is the Aptera which has been featured both here and in other publications as a 300 mpg, 3-wheeled alternative to your average commuter car. At this point the Aptera is already taking orders for their car in the $30,000 range and with the option of all-electric or hybrid engines.

The top gas guzzlers of the 2007 model year read like a veritable who’s who of high end automotive performance. In fact the top seven gas guzzlers of the year are all high performance cars - not a Hummer or SUV in sight. That’s not to say, of course, that the behemoth from GM has suddenly become a green icon. The gas guzzler list for 2007 merely reflects the fact that as horsepower goes up fuel economy generally heads in the other direction.

Of course the price tags of the top seven gas guzzlers on our 2007 list indicate the fuel costs are not the primary considerations of the owners of these fine tuned machines. After all, those who can afford a Lamborghini, a Ferrari or a Bentley are unlikely to fret over the high cost of gasoline.

Those of us with more pedestrian tastes and more limited fuel economy may need to take a hard look at the true cost of our wheels, but for now sit back and take a look at the gas guzzling ways of these high end cars.

On December 20th Daryl Hannah will be offering of up her matte black BioDiesel El Camino so that she can share the love and beauty that has been her daily driver the past number of years. Included in her substantial and sustainable offering comes the 55 gallon drum and pump she uses to refuel her B100 tank. She goes as far as to say that refueling her tank from its home-pump is so easy she can even do it all dressed up. So if that is not endorsement enough for you I don’t know what would be.

Finding an early 80’s El Camino with a diesel engine is no small task. There were not too many of them built. This is not a rebuild or a custom job (other than the matte paint). She is posting it as a Chevy 5.71 GM diesel with an automatic transmission and 139,000 miles on it. Also, by buying Daryl’s El Camino you get the glory (considered by some) of telling your friends that you are driving a piece of Daryl Hannah and it just feels (environmentally) right!

As the Muscle Car Revisiting gets moving into production many of those enthusiasts who fanned the flames to get these cars into production are going to find themselves on the outside looking in. With the announcement some time back that a limited number of 5000 Challengers will see production many would be shoppers are plunking down some impressive premiums to insure their place in the Mopar line. Some are going as far as laying down $20,000 over the sticker price for their SRT8. That is on top of an MSRP price of $37,995. So for anybody who anticipated that the Muscle Car Revisiting was going to be about putting horsepower and performance back into the hands of the masses they would be sadly mistaken.

And if you are thinking about holding out for a Chevy Camaro you may want to think about that again as well. Odds are good that similar premiums will be following the release of the rebirth of the Camaro. After seeing what is happening with the prices of these new muscle cars from the past that $30,000 MSRP for a new Ford Mustang is looking fairly reasonable. For the rest of us thank goodness there are still some classics around that can be had at a reasonable clip.

Source[Jalopnik]