On the second song of their seminal album “London Calling”, The Clash famously sang “My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac.” For Amanda McBride and Joseph Brooks, a more appropriate lyric might be “my baby was born in a brand new Cobalt.”

The Minnesota couple were on their way to the hospital in McBride’s 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, with McBride in labor, when she decided she wasn’t going to make it in time. McBride was able to miraculously give birth while behind the wheel, with Brooks steering at the car on cruise control at 70 mph.

The episode caught the attention of GM, who generously donated two child  seats, a stroller as well as  other miscellaneous supplies like bottles, formula and toys. A year’s supply of diapers is also included as part of GM’s donation. All three are in good spirits after the incident, with baby Joseph in good health.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Honda was forced to shut down all four of its Chinese car plants, after 1,850 workers at an auto parts plant went on strike over wages. The strike is reported to have crippled Honda’s production capability in what is now the world’s largest car market.

The lack of parts means that Honda is unable to assemble cars at any of its four Chinese plants. The employees at the parts plant want their wages increased to between 2,000 yuan ($293) and 2,500 yuan per month, from 1,500 yuan ($220). Workers at Honda’s car plants make a similar wage.

“China is experiencing a labor shortage that’s shifting the natural bargaining power to workers,” Chang-Hee Lee, a Beijing-based industrial relations specialist at the International Labor Organization told Bloomberg News. While much of China’s economy is owned by the state (and Honda’s own operations are jointly owned with the Chinese government), governmental authorities claim that Honda has done nothing wrong in the labor dispute. China account for about 17 percent of Honda’s global sales, making it a crucial market for its operations.

[Source: Bloomerg]

Mercury‘s glory days are long over, with the brand lacking anything exciting or unique since the muscle car era. With the Grand Marquis scheduled to die alongside its customer base, and every other Mercury product available right next door at the Ford showroom, the storied brand is set to be euthanized by its parent company, Ford Motor Co., according to a report by Bloomberg News Service.

Ford executives are reportedly readying a proposal to kill Mercury, and will present the plan at a board meeting this July. While Ford is in good financial shape, shuttering Mercury would make sense, as two of its four cars are scheduled to die next year, leaving it a lame duck amid strong Ford and Lincoln lineups. General Motors has closed down three brands within the last decade, and Chrysler closed down its Plymouth division in 2001, so the move would not be unprecedented. Ford has spent 88 percent less on the brand from 2005 to 2009, as sales declined rapidly.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Mercedes-Benz‘s flagships get more prole-crushing power for 2011, as the CL550 and S550 lose their 5.5L naturally aspirated V8 in favour of a twin turbo 4.6L unit, putting out 429 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, up 47 horsepower and 125 lb-ft from the old model.

The brand’s other naturally aspirated V8, the 6.2L AMG V8, whose exhaust note can only be described as “belligerent”, will also disappear in the big-body S63 and CL63 to be replaced by a 5.5L twin-turbo V8 (sensing a common theme here?) putting down 536 hp ad 590 lb-ft, increases of 18 hp and 45 lb-ft. The new S63 and CL63 also get AMG’s proprietary MCT automatic gearbox and a stop-start feature, to pander to the “green” sensibilities that owners of these profligate machines doubtlessly hold.

For the true plutocrat, the S65 and CL65 twin-turbo V12 remains untouched, but gets a 17 horsepower bump, to 621. Exxxcccelleennttt.

[Source: Car and Driver]

Before he set the BMW world on edge with his controversial aesthetics, Chris Bangle had a comfortable post at Fiat, where he designed the Fiat Coupe, a car never sold in North America but regarded as an iconic and revolutionary design.

French auto website Cardisiac is reporting that Bangle, who quit BMW in 2009, may be headed back to Fiat as the brand prepares to expand outside of Europe. With Volkswagen acquiring Italdesign, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is hoping to secure his own supply of design talent before any sort of arms race/buying spree occurs. Fiat’s current lineup is pretty snazzy, but there’s no denying that some of the Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep products could use a looks-related rest to break them out of their current stalemate.

[Source: Autoblog]

Regular readers will recall a fondness for hip-hop music at the Autoguide offices.  We’ve previously covered the Houston “swangas” phenomenon, Seattle’s Volvo driving rapper and Atlanta’s dubbed-out Camaros. Now, Kia is showing the East Coast some love, with their new commercial featuring their familiar Hamsters, the Kia Soul, and Black Sheep’s seminal anthem The Choice Is Yours.

The video is shot with a gritty, New York-esque background, and if it weren’t for the cute and furry hamsters, it could actually be a pretty decent music video, with requisite scenes on the basketball court, cruising with the homeys, getting a line-up at the barbershop, and ritzy Park Avenue types staring with disapproving glances at the young hoodlum hamsters. Along the way, the Hamsters reference the song’s hook, by presenting various “boring” econo-car options (represented by a toaster, washing machine and cardboard box), or the neon green Kia Soul. Ostensibly, these options represent offerings from Toyota and Honda, but whoever dreamed up the ad forgot about the hamster’s true vehicle of choice, the Zhu Zhu pet car (which looks strangely like a British sports car).

Hit the jump for Kia’s newest Hamster ad.

[Souce: Autoblog]

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GM is recalling 547 Cadillac SRX’s equipped with the 2.8L twin-turbo V6 due to potential engine failure if the car is run with regular, rather than premium fuel.

In a statement released by NHTSA, the agency said that “The combination of regular fuel usage and aggressive driving maneuvers may induce pre-ignition.” If pre-ignition occurs, you may hear a pinging or knocking sound from the engine. If the vehicle continues to be driven after the onset of this noise, a connecting rod or piston may break, resulting in engine damage, and perhaps engine failure, which would disable the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.”

Cadillac will re-program the car’s ECU for free, and owners can contact the company at 1-866-982-2339. In the mean time, take it easy with the loud pedal and don’t cheap out at the gas pump.

[Source: Inside Line]

The Bugatti Veyron might be faster, the Pagani Zonda more eye-catching and the Ferrari Enzo more extravagant. Nevertheless, the McLaren F1 is still regarded by most enthusiasts as the greatest car ever made, bar none. The F1 was the physical manifestation of the dreams of Gordon Murray, a savant engineer whose personal quirks ingrained in the car’s design. There’s no radio, because Murray hated listening to the radio, but there’ is a top-notch hi-fi for your own music. The engine was a BMW V12 that had more in common with an F1 engine than the opulent 12-cylinders that powered the 750iL and 850i luxo-barges. The driver sat in the middle of the car, and the engine was lined with gold, for better heat dissipation.

With the 20th anniversary of this monumental car approaching, McLaren decided to honor the F1′s owners with a dinner at the company’s headquarters in Woking, England. 21 McLaren F1s made an appearance, and with less than 100 cars in existence (and roughly 70 of those registered for road use), it was possibly the largest ever gathering of McLaren F1s.

Hit the jump to read the McLaren press release.

[Source: Autoblog]

Gallery: McLaren F1 Gathering

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File this one under “completely out of left field.” GM engineers are looking for any possible way to cut costs from their Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, and anything is currently on the table. Among the possibilities being investigated is a rotary engine, a powerplant long abandoned by nearly every automaker except Mazda, who still produces the rotary-powered RX8 sports car.

GM once experimented with a rotary Corvette, but the idea was quickly scrapped. The rotary has a few drawbacks, namely oil and gasoline consumption, but there are also positives; the engine is unbelievably smooth, loves to rev and incredibly compact. The RX8′s rotary is a little larger than a basketball, and the Volt’s rotary would likely be smaller, giving the car a nice reduction in weight.

Also being investigated are a diesel engine, or a small two-cylinder gas engine. GM is also hoping to cut the cost of the battery pack from $10,000 to $5,000, in order to help the car be economically viable.

[Source: Inside Line]

Mercedes-Benz diesels have a fearsome reputation for being some of the toughest cars on the road. While most vintage German machinery has been sent to the scrap heap due to astronomical repair bills or oxidization, there are a number of diesel powered Mercedes-Benz cars from as far back as 1972 still kicking around, thanks to a cult following and bank-vault build quality.

There hasn’t been a diesel S-Class sold here since the mid-1990′s, but in 2011, Mercedes is set to bring it back a big diesel-powered sedan, with the S350 Bluetec. Packaged with Mercedes-Benz 4Matic system, the S350 will put out 210 horsepower and 400 lb-ft, with AdBlue urea injection cutting down those legendary diesel emissions.

Americans haven’t been too enthusiastic about diesels in passenger cars, but a majority of the Mercedes-Benz SUVs in Canada are diesel powered, and we suspect that the S350 Bluetec, combined with standard all-wheel drive, will be very popular north of the border, and possibly the Snow Belt states.

[Source: Car and Driver]