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We see some fairly radical machinery come up for sale on occasion, but few creations manage to raise our eyebrows so high as Project Sea Lion. Created to nab amphibious land speed record, the machine uses a Mazda 13b rotary engine for propulsion, and its creator says the drivetrain is good enough to launch the vehicle to 180 miles per hour if there's enough roadway. Given that the current record sits at 125 mph, the Sea Lion should have no problem nabbing that title.

Top speed on the water may be a bit more cumbersome, however. The quickest amphibious vehicle can get to 60 mph right now, and Sea Lion's builder says the creation will need more horsepower to make that happen.

He suggests a Renesis conversion. We tend to agree.

Made from tig-welded aluminum and a variety of CNC-machined components, the car comes only with a bill of sale. That means we can forget all about driving/floating this thing to work. If you like what you see and what to give the amphibious land speed record a go for yourself, Project Sea Lion is for sale over at Fantasy Junction for the low price of $259,500. Scroll down for a quick video and be sure to check out Fantasy Junction for more details and photos.

There can be no argument that the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a handsome sedan, but some changes are underway to make the 2013 model more striking. Our spy shooters caught this wagon, which despite having its front end heavily cloaked, gives up at least a few details.

New headlights are hiding beneath all that masking, which will integrate the current model's separate daytime running lamps. Out back, the taillights will retain the same shape, but get a slightly different look.

Also absent from these photos will be a new design to the rear fenders, as we're told that Mercedes will be changing the rear doors to remove the "Ponton-style" bulge. The interior will be updated, as well, with some improved safety equipment being added to the E-Class order sheet.

Check out all of the high-res images in our gallery.

The Detroit News reports lithium-ion battery manufacturer A123 Systems is set to post a net loss of $125 million on revenue of $10.9 million for the first quarter of 2012. Official results will be released later this week. The loss includes $51.6 million tied to replacing battery packs produced at the company's Livonia, Michigan facility. Some of those packs could have been manufactured with defective cells. The figure also includes $15.2 million to increase inventory reserves.

As you may recall, A123 Systems provides battery packs for companies like Fisker. The extended-range EV manufacturer recently reported issues with the supplier's products, but A123 says it has determined the cause of the defective cells and is working to make sure the failures don't reoccur.

The report also suggests A123 Systems will lower its revenue forecast for the year to $145 million to $175 million. The company originally projected it would generate between $230 million and $300 million.

Safety features like airbags are supposed to keep us safe in the event of a collision. But one driver allegedly met with a nasty surprise when an airbag in his car reportedly sliced his ear in half.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the incident occurred on April 7 when an unnamed owner of a 2012 Hyundai Elantra was in a crash. Apparently the side curtain airbag on the driver's side rapidly inflated (like it's supposed to) but took with it a metal bracket (which it's not). The result was a severe laceration to the driver's ear in an automotive reenactment of Holyfield-Tyson II.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is apparently looking into the event, but has yet to issue a recall. Hyundai for its part insists the incident was isolated, and that it has not received reports of anything similar happening to any other drivers.

To say that we're eager to drive the 2013 Ford Focus ST is one of the understatements of the year. After seeing lots of photos and videos, we can't wait to get Ford's new hot hatch out on the road, and now, we have a pretty good idea of what sort of aural stimulation the turbocharged Focus will provide while we're tossing it about.

Ford understands that a good engine and exhaust note is an important part of any performance car's overall experience, and to that end, the automaker has implemented some interesting technology with its Focus ST. Engineers have added a special sound tube – called a sound symposer – to the ST, which specifically enhances the throaty, low-end frequencies of the exhaust. This sort of sound tube has been used before (on the Mustang and Mazda MX-5 Miata), but here in the Focus ST, there's an electronically controlled valve that opens and closes based on specific driver inputs. What's more, this valve is mapped more aggressively in lower gears for great sounds during acceleration, but stays shut more often in higher gears to allow for quieter highway cruising.

But enough of the technical mumbo-jumbo. Click the play button below to hear what the end result sounds like during an acceleration run in the Focus ST.



We like what we hear, though we'll wait to see just how it sounds when things like road and wind noise are factored in during the overall driving experience. Scroll down for Ford's official press blast.

Our friends at Car and Driver recently spent some time poking and prodding around McLaren headquarters in Woking, England, and they have confirmed plans for a convertible MP4-12C. This isn't exactly earth-shattering news, having been rumored since 2009 and even spotted earlier this year, but it does suggest the program is on track for a public reveal this year. The MP4-12C Spyder is expected to be mechanically identical to its hard top cousin, which means buyers can look forward to finding twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8 with 593 horsepower kicked out through the rear wheels.

The report says McLaren designed that engine along with its partner, Ricardo, to serve as the beating heart behind more than just one model. In addition to the lidless MP4-12C, McLaren is hard at work on a true successor to the F1. That machine will feature more conventional side-by-side seating and a dual-clutch gearbox bolted to a higher-output version of the same 3.8-liter engine. McLaren also has its heart set on creating a full product line. What does that mean, exactly? Car and Driver says we can forget purist-affronting models like an SUV or a sedan, but the odds are fairly high that the stable will swell beyond the three models mentioned here. Color us excited.

Yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix was an enormous cause for celebration for Williams. The Formula One team that was once at the very top of its game hadn't won a race since 2004, but it broke that losing streak when Pastor Maldonado claimed the checkered flag for the team against Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen and against all odds. But the celebrations in the team's garage were cut short when a massive fire broke out just after the race.

The fire erupted an hour and a half after the grand prix's conclusion as team members were toasting their victory in the garage on pit lane, sending smoke billowing out over the track. Members of other teams – Force India and Caterham chief among them – quickly sprung into action to help their comrades put out the fire. A total of 31 people were subsequently sent to the emergency medical center on site, with all but one treated and released. The remaining Williams team member is being treated for burns suffered in the incident and is expected to be sent back to the UK for further treatment in the coming days.

Officials are still looking into the cause of the fire, which reportedly emanated from the racecar that Bruno Senna drove until it was disabled in a collision with Michael Schumacher that took both cars out of the race. Suspicions center around a malfunction in the Kinetic Energy Recovery System. The incident is not the first time a Williams facility suffered from a fire, the factory back in Grove having caught on fire a few years ago. Scroll down to watch video of the incident in Barcelona this weekend.

Automotive News reports Subaru no longer plans to manufacture vehicles in China in the near future. The company had originally planned to begin building cars in the country by 2016, but has re-shifted its focus back toward North America. Subaru will now increase production at its Indiana facility while also investigating other ways to up capacity in NA. That could mean adding a new line in Indiana or building an entirely new facility.

It's only been 10 months since Subaru announced it planned to build a manufacturing plant in China in just five years. Last year, the company said it planned to build 150,000 units per year in the People's Republic and import an additional 30,000 vehicles. Those numbers have been slimmed to a more modest 100,000 units, all of which will be imports. While Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, the president of Fuji Heavy Industries, says he would still like to see Subaru have a factory in China, he doesn't expect it to happen by 2016.

In the meantime, Subaru has also increased its North American sales targets from 380,000 units to 410,000.

The auto industry has long been a cyclical business, and though this last trough was a deep one, the coming boom has economists excited. According to Bloomberg, the auto industry's comeback contributed fully half of the 2.2 percent national economic growth in the first quarter of this year. Auto sales are on target to top 14 million vehicles this year, the best pace in four years.

Production is up at all three domestic carmakers, which has a ripple effect throughout the economy. Bloomberg cites Chad Moutray, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers, who estimates that every dollar spent on a new vehicle leads to an addition $2.02 in economic activity. The industry's share of gross domestic product for the quarter was 2.8 percent, which is nearly as high as it was in 2007, before the economic crisis that devastated the industry, according to the report.

Yet despite the rise in fortunes for carmakers, stock prices have yet to follow suit. A key automotive index is up just 1.5 percent so far this year, but is down 31 percent in the past 12 months, according to the report. The U.S. Treasury Department recently indicated that because of lagging stock prices, it would not be divesting its share of General Motors stock anytime soon.

Certain videos, when the protagonists speak a foreign language, don't need subtitles: Mexican telenovelas, dolphins in love and auto racing are but three. Although the narration is in Spanish and there isn't any racing in this video of former WRC Champion Carlos Sainz and current DTM driver Miguel Molina lapping the Autódromo Terramar, the action needs no translation.

Terramar, in Spain, is the second oldest racing track in Europe after England's Brooklands, built in 1922 to host Grand Prix cars. Its owner's vision stretched further this his financial backing, so the two-kilometer oval track with 60-degree bankings hosted only one sanctioned race in 1923. After that, it was used sporadically, holding its last event in 1950. It is now part of land used for a chicken farm.

That didn't stop Sainz and Molina from seeing how fast they could lap the 80-year-old circuit in a Red Bull Racing Audi R8 LMS. The video is a bit long, but it's well-shot and definitely worth watching for the high banking and bumpy airborn Audi shots alone. Check out the action by scrolling down to watch the video.

A Rare Mid-life Updo Comes To The Starter Ferrari



Every time I travel to Maranello for a test drive, the three hours or so prior to turning the red key are driven in a U.S. Interstate-style straight line along Italy's A1 autostrada in my 99-horsepower 2001 Opel Astra station wagon with five-speed manual. It's just about the perfect antithetical setup for the unleashing of the hounds that awaits just over the hills south of Ferrari HQ.

This trip over was for the midlife upgrade of the Ferrari California for our 2013 model year, a car that promises to weigh less, deliver more horsepower and torque, and go quicker.

Just days after reporting that Porsche had plans to introduce the Pajun, a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class that would slot just below the Panamera, Automotive News quoted Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller saying the Pajun was not a done deal but could become reality in five or six years.

Automotive News was referencing an interview Mueller gave to German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, in which he also says the company has no plans for an entry-level Porsche below the Boxster until at least 2014.

"We would do no good to the brand if we were to lose traditional Porsche customers," Mueller told the newspaper. In another interview with German business publication Wirtschaftswoche, Mueller said, "Possibly we need to wait until the next generation of customers before the idea of a small roadster will work for Porsche."

If you're wondering why the name Trax sounds familiar, it's because we've heard it before. That's right, General Motors' chunky little crossover concept has blossomed into the production CUV you see here, and might we say, it's quite a handsome little thing.

Details about the new Trax are scarce, but since it looks to be based on the same high-riding platform derived from the Sonic that underpins the Buick Encore and Opel Mokka, so we'd expect the powertrains to simply carry over unchanged.

But know this: General Motors has no plans to offer the Trax in the United States, citing "the strong position of the Equinox" as the reason why it won't be offered Stateside. That's a shame, too. In our opinion, this baby Bowtie certainly makes more sense than the frumpy Buick Encore that doesn't really seem to fit with its brand. We suspect that Chevy dealers won't get this vehicle in part because GM wants to protect the Buick's positioning and price when it heads to U.S. dealers later this year.

The Trax will make its official debut at the Paris Motor Show in late September. For now, click the image above for a high-resolution version and scroll down to read GM's official release.

Mike Flewitt, Ford's vice president, manufacturing, Ford of Europe, has decided to "pursue other career interests" according to the company's press release. Jeff Wood, director of manufacturing for Ford's North America operations, will replace Flewitt beginning June 1.

Automotive News reports that the resignation comes after Ford of Europe reported a first-quarter, pre-tax loss of $149 million. The company has also cut working days at plants in Spain and days and production rates in Germany. Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell has previously said Ford's second-quarter production will fall by 65,000 vehicles from last year.

Flewitt began working at Ford in 1983 as an assembly plant trainee. Eventually he wound up at Rolls-Royce in 1995 as production director then moved to managing director at AutoNova AB Volvo in 1998 and operations group manager at TWR in 2000. In 2003, Flewitt returned to Ford of Europe as production quality director. Flewitt was installed in the VP position in January, 2012.

Automotive News says Flewitt has left Ford's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany for his UK birthplace.

Read Ford's press release after the jump for details and other personnel news from Ford.