I don’t think there’s one automobile enthusiast who wouldn’t want to go back in time and grab a beer with Steve McQueen. I mean let’s face it, the guy was not only an automotive legend, but he had the capacity to make even the un-coolest of vehicles cool just by associating with them. Cars, motorcycles, trucks… it didn’t matter, cause’ if it had the McQueen stamp of approval, it was a hit. The King of Cool has now been gone for more than 30 years, and yet companies are still using his likeness to make money. Triumph motorcycles for example is getting ready to release a Steve McQueen edition Bonneville motorcycle that will have a limited 1100 chassis run. The bike pays homage to the Triumph motorcycle that McQueen rode in “The Great Escape”. Visual queues will include matte military green paint, a solo-seat, luggage rack and a reproduction signature of McQueen on the bikes chassis. The bike is set to be released at the EICMA trade show in Milan next month so stay tuned for more info.

Source: BornRich.com

Image: Profiles In History

If you’re a fan of the Back to the Future movies and have a sizable bank account, here’s an opportunity you won’t want to pass up. Profiles In History has one of three surviving DeLoreans built for the Back to the Future movies, and it will hit the block at one of the company’s auctions later this year.

Up for grabs is a car actually used in the filming of the third BTTF movie, complete with white wall tires, chrome hubcaps and assorted, tacked on bits from the 1950s (it IS a time machine, after all). Sadly, it’s not a functional time machine, so you can’t go back to 1984 and buy up all the available shares in Microsoft and Apple.

While seven DeLoreans were built for the three BTTF movies, only three are known to survive today. That’s the nice way of saying that this guaranteed-authentic example won’t be inexpensive to buy, but you probably won’t lose money on it either.

Whoever buys the car, which was previously on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, will also help support the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is the world’s largest private funding source for research into Parkinson’s disease.

Just in case you’re not up to speed on Lamborghini’s current lineup, here’s the two minute drill: there’s the Gallardo, available in six different variants, and then there’s the Aventador. Named for a fighting bull known for its strength and resilience, the Aventador replaces the Murcielago atop the Lamborghini product line.

Powered by a 6.5-liter V-12 sending 700 horsepower to all four wheels, the Aventador is capable of running from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 217 miles per hour. It’s chock full of F1 technology, including a carbon fiber composite monocoque, pushrod suspension and a paddle-shift gearbox that can execute gear changes in 50 milliseconds.

Unlike earlier Lambo V-12s, the Aventador can out-handle a surprising number of cars on a tight race track. On the Top Gear test track, the Aventador turned in the third quickest lap time of 1:16.5, which means that only the new McLaren MP4-12C and the Ariel Atom V8 500 are faster.

If you’ve got $393,695 to spend, you can put an Aventador in your garage sometime in the fourth quarter of 2012 (production is sold out until then). If that’s a bit steep for your tastes, you can enjoy the guided tour and drive provided by Jay Leno in the video below – it’s free, and it doesn’t even have a gas-guzzler tax.

Source: Jay Leno’s Garage

Jay dials in some opposite lock.

An average day for me involves about ten hours of combing the internet for relevant car news, then drafting stories for the various sites that pay me to peck at a keyboard for reinforcement (much like a pigeon in a Skinner box). An average day for Jay Leno involves touring McLaren’s new facilities in Woking, England, to check on the production status of his ordered MP4-12C. He still finds time to give Charlie Sheen advice on hookers and blow, then takes some hot laps on the Top Gear test track, guided by McLaren’s chief test driver. Please Jay, let me know how I can be your protege.

The video below has some great footage of McLaren’s assembly line, which does indeed look more like a futuristic hospital than an automotive assembly line. It’s also got some great scenes of Jay trying to drive the MP4-12C at the limit around the Top Gear test track. He learns firsthand about throttle-on oversteer and hard braking, but I can’t say I’d be doing that much better behind the wheel myself (OK, that was me being diplomatic – I’m well versed in the difference between squeezing the throttle and hammering it at corner exit).

If you happen to have relatives working for McLaren, please let them know my passport is valid and I’m ready, willing and able to give the MP4-12C a shakedown at Dunsfold Aerodrome.

Source: Autoblog

He beat Hulk Hogan in front of 45,000 people at the Georgia Dome in the WWE, he’s played for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and he’s one of the nicest (and biggest) full blown car enthusiasts on the planet. He’s Bill Goldberg and he’s just set his sights on building one of the baddest second generation pro-touring Trans Am’s to ever roll on tarmac. You see last year after hosting the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, Bill got seriously bitten by the pro-touring bug. Already a die-hard muscle car nut, the idea of melding old car styling with new car tech was something that really appealed to him. Plus, since he’d already seen a host of these bad boys in action, it just seemed right that he would jump on the bandwagon to create what he calls, project “ERNREE”.

Starting with a non-numbers matching 1970 Pontiac Trans Am, the goal is to reset the benchmark for what a second gen pro-touring Trans Am can become with the right parts, people and motivation behind the build. To give you an idea of what it takes to create what will most likely become one of the best pro-touring cars on the planet, just take a look at this partial parts list.

• Hendrick Motorsports LS motor
• Carbon Kustoms Front Clip
• DSE Suspension, front and rear
• Ridetech Tiger Cage
• Forgeline Wheels
• Baer Brakes
• Be Cool Cooling Systems
• BF Goodrich Tire
• American Autowire

The entire back-story and build, complete with progress photos is being cataloged over at Pro-touring.com, so make sure to head on over there to check it out. Also, if you would like to find out further information on this years 2011 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, please send an email to FM3 Performance Marketing.

Way back when, before the advent of video games, kids got their jollies for racing automobiles by putting together slot car tracks. Back in the 1970′s and 1980′s companies like AFX and Mattel sold all manner of racetrack that could be purchased at your local hobby shop and put together in as many ways as your imagination could take you. In the 1990′s however, video games really caught their stride and unfortunately the old slot car tracks got pushed to the wayside. Trackbuilder David Beattie of Slot Mods in Detroit, Michigan however is trying to bring a little old school racing back by creating some of the best slot car tracks in existence. Every track is hand made and takes between two and three months to create. David can build you everything from a full on custom raceway, to replicas of your favorite tracks like Leguna Seca or Daytona. Here we see certified car nut Jay Leno reliving a little bit of his youth, while speaking to David Beattie about how he’s reinvented the slot car track. Click through for the video.

It’s no secret that automakers have been pimping out their cars in films for quite some time. GM for example has been running rampid in Michael Bay’s Transformers movies since they came out in 2007. Then there are companies like Aston Martin and Audi who have had long standing relationships with James Bond and The Transporter. Well, now it’s Dodge’s turn as they are taking place front and center in the new Fast and the Furious: Fast 5 movie starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. In the past the only real Dodge in the franchise has been the 1970 Dodge Charger that belonged to Dominic Torretto, the films main character. But in this new movie, Fast 5, Dodge has stepped up their sponsorship big time by including a host of 2010 and 2011 Charger SRT8′s for the films production. The below videos give you just a little insight into the cars used, what their roles are and why director Justin Lin thought they’d be great for the movie. Click through for the videos.

Maybe we’ve been unduly harsh on Smart through the years. Sure, Mike and I would rather stuff a live weasel down out pants than drive a Smart, but that doesn’t mean their cars are wrong for everyone, or in every situation. Take this ad, filmed for Smart in China, which shows how useful a Brabus edition Smart Fortwo can be if you’re a pro basketball player trying to track down an art thief. There’s no way Bryant could have hunted the guy down in a Bentley or Maybach, which goes to show that Smart Fortwos do have value for urban dwelling, crime fighting, basketball superstars. Video below.

Is it just me, or would the ad have been more believable if the Smart were rolling on 22” wheels, with a subwoofer cranking out threshold-of-pain level bass? I’d like to know how much they had to pay Bryant for this sub-minute ad, but more than that I’d like to know how they got the six foot, six inch star to fit in a Smart Fortwo.

Source: Autoblog Green

Jenson Button's '78 Ferrari 512BB. Image: Bonhams

Jenson Button was the 2009 F1 World Driving Champion. Outside of the United States, where F1 has very little appeal or presence, Button is a bona fide celebrity on par with Miami Heat star LaBron James or Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. It stands to reason, then, that a car from Button’s garage will be worth more than a car from my own garage (although I’d like to point out that I’m something of a C list celebrity in Montgomery, AL). Not that Jenson and I have the same rides parked in our garage, especially since his collection previously included a Bugatti Veyron. It also includes a 1978 Ferrari 512BB, at least until the car gets auctioned by Bonhams on April 11. Jenson only bought the car last April, for the equivalent of about $133,000, but he’s selling the Ferrari because he’s simply too busy to drive it.

Since Button’s purchase of the 512, the odometer has spun up just 55 miles, increasing from 49,100 to 49,155. That’s not exactly low mileage for a Ferrari, but the good news is that this car comes with extensive service documentation. It was a driver, but it was a very carefully maintained driver, as the $154,000 worth of service receipts would indicate. Bonhams expects Button’s celebrity to add value to the car, and their pre-auction sales estimate ranges from $145,000 to $177,000. Put another way, the fact that the car is owned by a former world champion will add between $12,000 and $44,000 to the projected value if the car sells withing the range of the pre-auction estimate. In terms of value per mile, it means that Button’s hand sweat and ass-cheek imprints are worth a minimum of $218.18 per mile. Damn.

Source: NY Times Wheels

George Barris is generally known to be the “King of the Customizers”. He’s created some of the most well known and celebrated custom cars that the world has ever seen including the original Batmobile, the Black Beauty from the Green Hornet and the Munster’s Coach. Back in the 1950′s and 1960′s his cars were a part of the Southern California landscape and because of that Barris became an inspiration to many. In recent years Barris has taken a stab at creating some new modern customs, but quite honestly they don’t hold a candle to the machines that he created in his heyday. The following video takes a quick look at Barris Customs with the man himself explaining how, when he first started out, there was no real technology to speak of. Metal cutting was done with shears with all the exterior panels being formed on an english wheel or by hand. Looking back on his creations and listening to Mr. Barris now, it’s pretty amazing to think about what he created without the use of computers and or modern technology.

Source: MotoMavens via RalfBecker.com