Jon Sibal is one of the premier automotive digital artists out there, and from time to time he likes to have a little bit of fun with Photoshop making some awesome micro car renders. This time around, Sibal stuck to a theme of Rauh Welt-built cars. Rauh Welt Begriff, RWB, is a Porsche tuner located in Japan and loves to combine both Japanese and Euro tuning elements, creating some of the most distinct-looking Porsches in the world.

Sibal just makes them even more distinct by turning them into entertaining micro car renditions thanks to good ‘ol Adobe Photoshop. Aside from all the real good looking RWB Porsches, Sibal also showed off some non-Porsche RWB cars including a flat black Nissan S15 and and AE86.

For good fun, Sibal also did a couple of RWB’s Porsches in a Cars-theme to celebrate the release of the Cars 2 movie.

GALLERY: Jon Sibal’s Micro Cars

[Source: Jon Sibal]

The New England Motor Press Association has voted and presented the ‘Official Winter Vehicle of New England Award’ to the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

During the winter, a side by side test compared 4×4 SUVs in winter conditions and found the Grand Cherokee to exceed expectations. Jim Morrison, Head of Jeep Product Marketing, accepted the award and felt that the Grand Cherokee combines three different aspects better than the competition. He felt the Jeep excelled in luxury, fuel economy, and four wheel drive capability. John Paul, NEMPA Winter Vehicle Awards team leader said, “It handles everything mother nature can put in its way.”

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee comes in several trim levels including the base Laredo E for $37,995, the Laredo X for $42,995, the Limited for 46,995 and the Overland for 49,995. A 3.6-liter V6 Pentastar engine is standard with 290-hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. The optional 5.7-liter HEMI V8 is also available as an option.

Gallery: Jeep Grand Cherokee

Check out the video after the jump!

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From the “Only In Los Angeles” files comes this story of community outreach: Los Angeles police are asking celebrities with Twitter accounts to warn their legions of followers to avoid the 405 on July 16th and 17th, during the scheduled demolition of the Mulholland Bridge.

With almost 300,000 cars on the 405 every day, the traffic jams that would ensue would be horrific to almost Lynchian proportions. The police are counting on people to stay home and do what they always do—obsessively check celebrities’ Twitter feeds—and hope that the 6 or 7 million people following them will choose another day to Escape From LA. So far they’ve contacted Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Kim Kardashian, and hopefully Wil Wheaton, but not Levar Burton. No celebrities have tweeted about the planned closures yet, but officials are hoping they will closer to the date.

And while you’re at it, you can also follow Autoguide on Twitter while you’re waiting for the announcement.

[Source: NPR]

First it was Putin, now Medvedev with the zany America’s Funniest Videos-inspired automotive shenanigans: at an event on Saturday, Russian president Dimitry Medvedev steps out of a Mercedes-Benz SUV, which then rolls forward towards a large crowd.

It took him and the efforts of two burly bodyguards to prevent a disaster, holding the SUV back while the crowd shouts and moves. After they successfully stop it, the crowd breaks into cheers. Nobody was injured in the incident, but it certainly gave the Soviet equivalent of Jay Leno something to snicker about on late-night TV.

Of course, these two events revealing the speak of suspicion: is it actually a CIA plot to undermine the Russian regime? Does Jimmy Hoffa have anything to do with this? Or are the stereotypes of Russian drivers so pervasive that not even its leaders can escape? Aspiring conspiracy theorists can click the jump to watch and overanalyze the video of the incident.

[Source: Reuters]

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In commemoration of the Jaguar E-type’s 50th anniversary, a 91.9-foot tall sculpture has taken center stage for this years Goodwood Festival of Speed.

This gigantic steel structure constitutes nearly half a kilometer of steel pipes, which were originally intended for use as a gas pipeline. The material for this structure was donated by Tata Steel, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, which currently owns Jaguar. It looks massive and with a curb weight of 336,000 lbs. it is heavy too.

This structure is the work of Gerry Judah, who has been working on it since January. It took 10-days to erect it and the work was undertaken by a firm that usually builds bridges.

Typically the annual monument at the Goodwood Festival of Speed incorporates cars on it, but Judah didn’t want that, saying; “The E-type is famous for its shape but too small and delicate to hoist into the air. I thought I would like to express the form of the car itself without any embellishments. Everyone recognizes the E-type, the shape speaks for itself. You can’t compete with it, you can’t digress from it.”

The festival starts today and will run until July 3rd.

Nissan is planning a dozen new cars for the next few years, including redesigned Altima and Sentra sedans, some new trucks, and an electric vehicle for Infiniti.

The Altima, Sentra, and Titan are getting long in the tooth, and even the Maxima and Murano. Those will get replaced with all new cars before 2014. Infiniti will get a new three-row luxury crossover, tenatively called the JX, and a front-wheel-drive hatchback to fight the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series compacts. The NV200, now the official taxicab of New York City, will soon be available to Cash Cab enthusiasts. The popular G37 and G25 will get replaced, possibly without their manual transmissions, and an electric vehicle based on the Leaf will allow luxury drivers to assuage their financial guilt.

If you counted only 10 cars in the preceding paragraph, it shows that you’ve been paying attention (thank you!), and you would be right—there are still two surprises Nissan is holding from us. One is the return of the flagship Infiniti, for those lamenting the death of the unloved Q45. And one could be a mystery vehicle for Nissan that could be as wacky as the Murano CrossCabriolet—could it be a small sports car like the Urge concept? After all, the 240SX deserves to make a comeback.

[Source: Car And Driver]

Everything’s big in Texas, so the saying goes. Unless Fiat has something to say about it: out of 70 existing Fiat dealers, 10 of them are opening up in Texas—the second-highest amount of dealerships, behind California, and tied with New York and Florida.

Texas may seem like a strange state to sell small cars, considering that they’re so infatuated with pickup trucks that GM, Ford, Dodge, and even Toyota have “Texas edition” versions of their big honkin’ trucks. But two of its major metropolitan areas, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, feature populations over 5 million, with the usual issues of traffic and congestion found anywhere else. Fiat is betting on these population-dense areas to achieve market success.

And while Texas might not come to mind as a trendy, fashion-conscious place like New York, Florida or California, its major city Houston is America’s 4th-largest city, and brimming with cosmopolitans in the high-tech energy and computing industries. And dispelling the notion that these urban dwellers would spring for automatic transmissions: 70% of cars sold by these dealers are equipped with the 5-speed manual.

Eventually, Fiat will open up 130 dealers across the country. But for now, if you’re in one of these trendsetting states, then you won’t have to drive far to pick one up.

[Source: Ward's Auto]

The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 will make its first official public appearance at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, taking place from June 30th to July 3rd.

The GT3 will differ from the MP4-12C through aerodynamic performance upgrades including a front radiator, which increases the maximum ambient temperature at which the car can run. Other upgrades include a new gearbox cooler mounted on the rear aerodeck. A new front splitter will also be fitted to the GT3 along with a door blade, rear wing, diffuser and louvres in the front fenders. These components will be produced entirely from carbon fibre by McLaren Racing.

Only 20 of these cars will be delivered to private GT3 racing teams in Europe for 2012. The GT3 will also feature Formula 1 derived technologies including the same steering wheel design used by Lewis Hamilton in his MP4-24 Formula 1 car. Respected Formula 1 suppliers such as Akebono, Mobil 1, McLaren Electronic Systems, Ricardo and Michelin are working to create race car specification technology superior to the GT3 competition in 2012.

Andrew Kirkaldy from McLaren GT explained that: “The reaction to the 12C GT3 at the circuits we have visited has been phenomenal. I can’t wait to see how it goes down at Goodwood this weekend.”

“CRS Racing was clearly excited to be confirmed as partner in this project as we were only too aware of McLaren’s short, but unbelievable GT history with the F1. But the anticipation amongst circuit owners and race teams to McLaren’s return to GT racing has still surprised us.  I’m delighted that we have the opportunity to drive the 12C GT3 up the hill at Goodwood and raise the interest even further” said Andrew Kirkaldy.

Drivers accompanying the GT3 at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed include Andrew Kirkaldy, 2010 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes test driver Oliver Turvey, and McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver Chris Goodwin.

Gallery: McLaren MP4-12C GT3

How many times has the AAA saved your butt when your car needed a boost? Owners of electric vehicles will be happy to hear that someone’s got their back as well, as the AAA is set to launch mobile charging units in select locations throughout the U.S.

Following in the footsteps of the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and Nissan’s joint project to bring charges to electric cars, AAA is unveiling the details of its new full production level-two and level-three electric vehicle mobile charging units at the Plug-In 2011 Conference & Exposition in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the conference, they’ll be revealing where these units will be rolled out. And if all goes well, you can expect these mobile charging units to expand beyond the initial six regions.

This is a great idea and will certainly offer electric car drivers extra peace of mind while out on the roads. And the idea is catching on – in fact, Australia’s Club Assist and Switzerland’s Nation-E have already released similar services.

Would services like these make you more inclined to buy an electric vehicle? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Source: Gizmag]

Toyota is counting on a sweeping advertising barrage to regain consumer confidence in its Camry, positioning itself as ”smart, safe and worry-free.”

The campaign will coincide with both Toyota’s expected return to full production capacity and a redesign for the Camry. And by “massive” and “sweeping,” Toyota plans on 40 commercials with the company’s familiar narrative of safe, dependable transportation for the masses.

It’s been a tough year for Toyota in general: they are still recovering from the spate of product recalls last year, as well as the production downturn from the earthquake. And to recover, they are aiming this campaign alongside at least 20 new or redesigned cars within the next two years: 13 of which will be significantly more different than now. It will include a new Avalon, a compact Prius, and the long-awaited FRS sports car for Scion. Ultimately, Toyota wants to hit a sales target of 2 million vehicles by 2013.

Expect to see ads beginning in October. There’s no word on whether they’ll involve ninjas, zombies, or children’s television mascots.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]