There's talk in New Zealand of taking the carbon neutral concept to a nationwide level. Prime Minister Helen Clarke has said she's in favor of the idea, and yesterday, Toyota New Zealand executive chairman Bob Field said that a carbon tax might be necessary to make the idea a reality. Field told the New Zealand Herald that, since all political parties in New Zealand are in favor of sustainability, that, "Corrective and collective action is long overdue if we are serious about reducing carbon emi

You have until January 19 to save up $4.5 million. On that day, and probably for at least that much money, RM Auctions will turn over the keys to a 1971 Hemi 'Cuda Convertible. The bidding will take place at the auction house's annual Vintage Motor Cars in Phoenix, Arizona.

Ethanol fuel may be causing flapper valves on Ford vehicles to stick. A consumer auto-help column recently took on a question from an owner of a 1998 Mercury Mystique GS who was having problems filling up his tank. The responding technician said Ford sent out a technical service bulletin that suggested replacing flapper valve assembly

Excess weight is the enemy of every automobile. Extra pounds will make a car slower at the top end, more sluggish off the line, wobblier in the corners, more lethargic under braking, guzzle more gas and expel more toxic fumes...among other problems. It can render an otherwise great car imperfect. Case in point: the US-bound Italian beauty, the Alfa Romeo 159.

Many motorists find an iPod as essential a driving companion (for better or worse) as a cup of coffee or loose change. Unfortunately, many drivers in the UK found themselves without a viable solution for marrying auto with iPod thanks to a decades-old law that prevented the use of FM transmitters in cars. The only other options, using a cassette-tape adapter or hard-wiring a connection to the stereo's line-in, were either moot or too expensive.

With official plug-in hybrids (PHEV) looking more and more likely, one group to thank is Plug-in Partners. The organization, founded in Austin, Texas in August, 2005, has been heavily promoting PHEVs to the government, the auto industry and to individuals (perhaps you remember ex-CIA head R. James Woolsey's appearance in "Who Killed The Electric Car?" Woolsey is a spokesman for Plug-in Partners).

Thanks to JMH Automotive's racing arm, we now have a quality backup plan if Santa Claus, our friends or loved ones fail to deliver one of the Petersen / White Lightning Porsches to the Autoblog pit area this Christmas. The JMH crew has acquired a GT3-spec Ferrari F430 for the 2007 BGTC season, and as such, their '03 Ferrari 360 GTC has been offered to the general public on eBay. The car's new owner will have a ready-to-race machine that can be use

We didn't think that promoting the benefits of a car feature by ogling women could get any funnier than Nissan's (not safe for work) independent front suspension ad, but Volkswagen just might have managed to do just that – and in a more "gentlemanly" fashion, too.

In England, A 30-foot Lincoln Town Car limo has been converted to run on liquid petroleum gas. The owner of Infinity Limousines says LPG is cheaper by about 33 percent. He also sees more refueling stations as LPG becomes more popular in England. Critics, however, say there isn't much benefit to LPG in the overall energy cycle, especially when compared to diesel, because much of the fuel must be imported.