Camera phones are turning into quite an asset in this business, as readers of various automotive news sites across the interwebs and around the world have turned into legions of spy photographers. In this instance, one such reader-turned-paparazzo (apparently in Italy, no less) caught on video what appears to be some sort of Porsche Cayman Shooting Brake test mule.

Looking something like the product of a one-night-stand between said Porsche and either a Volvo C30 or an original BMW Z3-based M Coupe, the supposed mule is wearing all black, but apart from that, it appears to be undisguised. Of course, this could be a one-off made by someone with no official connection to Porsche (Rinspeed, anyone?), but then again, it could be a harbinger of a model to come. What do you make of it? Follow the link to view the spy video and voice your opinion in our comments section below. Thanks for the tip, Bill!

[Source: Top Gear]

Citing an unnamed though supposedly reliable source, the boys at Jalopnik are reporting that Jay Leno – fresh from his appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where he's believed to have piloted an awesome McLaren F1 GTR up the hill – was spotted filming a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment today with the blokes from Top Gear. What are the chances we'll get surprise appearances by Leno's Tank Car or EcoJet?

Assuming this rumor turns out to be true, we fully hope that Jay can properly represent American gearheads by outlapping Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay, who currently sits atop the Star leaderboard after knocking Simon Cowell off his perch as the quickest celebrity in Britain.



Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Jalopnik]

If there had been awards handed out to the preeminent forces in online automotive video over the past few years, surely Top Gear and rallyist Ken Block would have been shortlisted for the honor. Naturally, you'd expect that pairing the two Internet institutions would result in an amazing bit of film... and you'd be entirely correct.

What follows in the video posted after the jump is 6 minutes and 45 seconds of gobsmacking automotive artistry and top-flight production, with Block's 380-horsepower Subaru WRX STI drilling in and around an airport in California with a bug-eyed James May cinched into the passenger seat. Did we mention the appearance of Ricky Carmichael, perhaps the winningest motocross racer of all time? Click through the jump to witness the gorgeously controlled display of mechanical mayhem. Hat tip to absolutely everybody!

[Source: Top Gear via YouTube]

When Jeremy Clarkson has the keys to a 660 hp supercar, you know you're in for a heck of a ride. The affable BBC host took the reigns of twin-turbo V12-powered Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series, and we're pretty sure the Top Gear team needed to change its rather expensive tires at some time during the shoot.

The SL 65 AMG Black Series tore up the tarmac and even took on the company's own (much more expensive) McLaren SLR, but did Clarkson like it? Lets just say that he compared seat time in this super Benz to sitting on a pile of stones. It seems having 740 lb-ft of torque at your beckoning call isn't always a good thing, either. Oh, the horror. Hit the jump to watch for yourself.

[Source: YouTube]

Episode 2 of Top Gear's 13th season aired last night in the UK, and the main event was a one-mile drag race between the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron. Notice that we didn't say a McLaren F1 and a Bugatti Veyron. These two supercars are so super (and rare) that any single example tends to represent the whole run of each, and since your chances of encountering two of either kind in the same place are practically nill, they might as well be the only ones in existence.

The Top Gear crew chose Abu Dhabi as the location for its supercar shootout. With an arid climate that sees practically no rain or freezing-and-thawing cycles, the roads in Abu Dhabi are long, straight and, most importantly, free of pot holes. Richard Hammond chooses to pilot the Bug and The Stig takes the centrally located wheel of the F1. We won't spoil the results except to say that this is the most real and nail-biting competition that we've seen on Top Gear in a long time.

Follow the jump to watch yesteryear's supercar, the McLaren F1, go head-to-head with today's top dog, the Bugatti Veyron. Thanks for the tip, Will!

[Source: YouTube]

What do you get when you mix Clarkson, May, a Skoda, and the Catholic church? Controversy, of course. During a review of the Skoda Scout, May and Clarkson engaged in a bit of banter that mingled scouts -- as in Boy Scouts -- the church, and inappropriate touching. And when you "have a dig at two organizations that do a lot for the community," formal complaints get filed to the BBC, you get the Scout Association gunning for you, and you make lots of people unhappy... except the 7.5 million people who watched the show. Ah, Top Gear...

[Source: This is London]

Here's a fantastic challenge that the Top Gear team didn't think up: if you walked around London dressed as the Stig, how many strangers would let you drive their cars? Aussie comedy show The Chaser's War on Everything went to London to find out, in an attempt to find a cheaper way to travel. What ensued was a guy in a bad Stig getup poaching transport from a few Brits -- and it only got better from there. Follow the jump to see the vid. Hat tip: Scott

[Source: YouTube]

Alright, so whether you've seen it already or not, most of the enthusiast world is aware that Top Gear has revealed its mystery "tame racing driver" as none other than F1 maestro Michael Schumacher. That unhelmeting came as part of the new season's first show which aired in the U.K. on Sunday, and we now have a clip from that show of Schumi's own FXX tackling the <i>Top Gear</i> track. How how the World Champion's personal Prancing Horse stack up? Click on the through the jump to find out.

[Source: Top Gear via You Tube]

Jeremy Clarkson has written that some time after the new season of Top Gear begins tonight at 8 p.m. on British televisions, "Stig barges into the studio and in an atmosphere that you could cut with a knife removes his helmet."

Ostensibly, that means we'll finally learn the identity of the white-suited mystery man of motorsports. Of course, "removes his helmet" is a long way from actually finding out who The Stig is. And coming from TG's Master of Shenanigans – and after the last time The Stig was "revealed" – well, let's just say we're not ready to fall for the ol' banana in the tailpipe trick just yet. Hat tip to everyone and their fathers.

[Sources: The Daily Mail UK; BBC | Photo Credit: Jalopnik]