What do you do with all the crappy art your kids draw for you? You can hang it on the refrigerator so everyone grabbing a glass of milk can marvel at the next Picasso in the making. Or you can turn it into plush toy that they’ll play with for about 20 minutes before moving on to something else (probably to draw you more “works of art”) and forgetting all about it.

It’s a cool concept and a great gift idea – just send your kid’s latest masterpiece to Child’s Own Studio. The company will turn your child’s racing car blueprints into a plush toy. Anybody can buy him a Hot Wheels – this is a one-of-a-kind car that is perfect of the next Show-and-Tell. Child’s Own Studio started as an idea to turn a 4 year old boy’s drawing into a recognizable comfort toy, and over 200+ original creations later, it’s going strong.

Depending on the art the prices vary, but you can expect to pay about $100. You can check out some of the other creations turned to real-life toys on Child’s Own Studio’s website.

One thing’s for sure, Maddox would hate this.

After debuting the car earlier this week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Toyota has now released official details on the new Prius Plug-in Hybrid including expected fuel economy numbers. While it’s not quite up to the much-hyped Chevy Volt, the Prius PHEV will feature, “more affordable pricing than pure electric or range-extender type vehicles,” says Toyota; though no numbers have yet been released.

With a 15 mile electric only range, it falls well short of the Volt and is a few ticks shy in terms of a MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) rating of 87 MPGe, compared to 96 for the Volt. However, the Prius PHEV is more efficient after, with a 49-mpg rating once it reverts to its conventional hybrid mode, compared to 37-mpg with the Volt. And if it matters to your wallet, the Toyota uses conventional 87 octane gas, while the Volt required premium.

Charging for the Prius PHEV doesn’t take too long with a 2.5 to 3 hour charge using a conventional 120v household outlet or just 1.5 hours with a more powerful 240v household outlet.

With the use of a lithium-ion battery pack, the Prius PHEV does gain 123 lbs but doesn’t give up any space in the passenger or cargo departments. One thing it does gain Toyota’s new Entune system, as first seen on the Prius v. Additions to this system for the PHEV include Charge Management, Remote Air Conditioning System, Charging Station Map, Vehicle Finder and an Eco Dashboard.

GALLERY: 2012 Prius PHEV

If you like playing Nissan‘s GT Academy, you’ll want to watch the TV series that uses the popular video game to find the next racing superstar. Catch the five-part reality show on the Speed Network, where virtual gamers will compete for their chance to become a professional race car driver.

You get to see the last of a three-part competition, which started with 54,000 people that took to digital racetracks of GT5, hoping to take home the grand prize – a professional racing contract with Nissan. The gamers first competed online, racing Nissan vehicles on a variety of virtual raceways. Only 32 made the cut and they went to Orlando, Florida, to battle it out for the top 16 positions available.

Over the course of a week, the TV show was shot at the Silverstone Racing Complex in Silverstone, England. The brave 16 contestants were subjected to a series of physical and mental challenges, putting their skills to the test with an assortment of races and boot camp-style workouts. Judging to see who will come out on top are former race car drivers: Danny Sullivan (winner of the 1985 Indy 500); Tommy Kendall (the only American to finish Australia’s Bathurst 1000 race); and Liz Halliday (the most successful woman to race in the American Le Mans Series).

The show airs on the Speed Network starting September 20 and will run over five episodes, where the winner will be announced on the last show. As part of their grand prize, the winner will join a four-person team, joining the three winners of Nissan’s European GT Academy, and make their debut at the 24 Hours of Dubai in January 2012.

With the unveiling of the production version of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Frankfurt, Toyota still believes the mainstream adoption of hybrid vehicles is still in its early stages. Speaking to Automotive News, Toyota engineering VP Takeshi Uchiyamada commented that the Japanese auto giant expects hybrid sales to account for 20 percent of all vehicles sold in developed countries by 2020.

In Japan, hybrid sales (which are promoted with heavy incentives by the government) already account for 20 percent of all vehicles sold and hybrid models like the Prius are often the best selling cars. Currently hybrid sales in the rest of the developed world are at around 10 percent, with the Prius making up a hefty portion of that. In fact, over the past decade, Toyota hybrids have made up as much as 80 percent of all hybrid sales in North America in certain years, with the Prius alone accounting for almost one of every two hybrids sold.

Toyota is continuing a hybrid model push, with the Prius PHEV going on sale next year. Recently Toyota unveiled the Prius v wagon for North America, and at Frankfurt debuted a larger version of that car, the Prius+ with a lithium ion battery pack. Toyota will continue the push beyond this, with a Prius c sub-compact due out soon and sales of the new Camry Hybrid expected to double to 50,000 units in North America this year.

[Source: Automotive News]

When it was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show back in 2010 the Volkswagen New Compact Coupe looked to point the way towards several new models for the German automaker: both a Jetta Coupe and a Jetta Hybrid. Now it appears as though only one of those two cars has been given the green light, and it’s the green machine.

Set to debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, the 2013 Jetta Hybrid will use a turbocharged 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack. While an obvious fuel economy leader, VW is reportedly looking to market the car as a performance machine as well.

Stay tuned to AutoGuide’s extensive Auto Show coverage for more on the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.

[Source: Car & Driver]

If you thought a real Lamborghini was expensive, just wait until you see the price tag of one that you can pick up with one hand. The world’s most expensive model car has just been unveiled for a cool $4.8 million and it’s only one-eighth the size of the life-sized Lamborghini.

Taking a love of miniatures to the extreme, the special edition of the Lamborghini Aventador costs 15 times more that the luxury car it’s based on (a full-sized version comes in at an affordable $379,000). Designed by German model maker Robert Gulpen, the model Aventador follows closely in the footsteps of the original. Not only is it spun and milled from carbon fiber, it is also laced with gold thread. Accounting for about $2.7 million of the asking price are the diamonds that adorn the seats, steering wheel and headlights.  “This is a high-tech work of art,” said Gulpen. “I wanted to do something unique, something that has not existed until now.”

The model limited edition Lamborghini Aventador took 500 hours to create, using computer data shared by Lamborghini. It will be auctioned by Southeby’s in December, but if you’ve just got to have it right now, you can buy it for set price of $6.2 million. You can watch a video of the model being shown off at the Frankfurt Motor Show this past week after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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The Targa Newfoundland just got a huge boost in popularity, thanks to Zahir Rana and his Ferrari Enzo.

Any time a Ferari Enzo rashes it’s big news. It’s even bigger when the car crashes into the Atlantic Ocean during a sanctioned open road race. You can’t buy publicity like this. And you probably couldn’t afford to either, with the car worth well over $1 million.

Driven by ZR Auto owner and exotic car enthusiast Zahir Rana, the car is no regular Enzo, but rather a highly modified version by Edo Competition made to look like the ultra-rare FXX and sporting some serious performance modifications. In the past had received a transplant from an FXX model (exactly how Rana managed to get a hold of such an engine is a mystery). More recently it had been converted with a twin-turbo setup, although it’s not known if that was the engine being used during the Targa Newfoundland race.

Watch video of the crash, and the car’s recovery from the ocean after the jump:

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It’s billed as the most powerful Lotus ever made. Based on the brand’s Le Mans racing car it’s also the most hard core. And now you’ll be able to buy one, in America!

Speaking with Ian Fry, platform manager for the Evora at Lotus Cars Limited at the car’s unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show, he confirmed that the 444-hp street legal race car will be homologated to U.S. standards and could be on sale in as little as six months. Exactly how Lotus plans to do this, is still uncertain says Fry, indicating that it may be offered as a modification kit to the standard Evora in order to get around certain regulations.

Unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in production trim, the Evora GTE is powered by a supercharged 3.5-liter V6 and shares it’s widebody with the brand’s Evora race car. In addition it gets wild aerodynamics, light weight wheels, a stripped-down interior that is almost entirely coated in carbon fiber and a sequential 6-speed transmission with paddle shifters. Initially offered only for sale in a limited number of just 25 units (and only in China), Lotus has since given the go ahead to sell the car in both the U.S. and Europe.

GALLERY: Lotus Evora GTE

Watch video of the Evora GTE from Frankfurt after the jump:

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Unveiled for the first time in all its widebody glory at the Frankfurt Auto Show this week, the Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series Coupe is undeniably a car on steroids. Transformed on every level the car is 3-inches wider overall, with flared fenders and a wider track. Plus, it gains an upgraded AMG brake package and suspension setup, light weight wheels, some racing style seats and can even be ordered with an optional aerodynamics package (shown here). On top of all this, the Black Series model comes fitted with the same engine as found in the Mercedes SLS.

GALLERY: Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series Coupe

Find out more about the car from AutoGuide’s first look at the Frankfurt Auto Show in the video after the jump:

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NHTSA has announced a safety recall for 10,600 model year 2007-2008 Kia Sorento SUVs. A sensor used to deactivate an airbag when a child or baby seat is installed at the front passenger side may incorrectly deactivate the airbag when an adult is in the passenger seat. Airbag deactivation will cause an increased risk of occupant injury in the event of a frontal collision.

According to studies, this malfunction occurs when a heavier adult rider is present. The “passenger airbag off” warning light will illuminate in such an occurrence, notifying the occupants of the vehicle.

Kia is currently informing all affected Sorento owners to bring their vehicles to authorized dealerships to receive a reprogram for their OCS system.

[Source: NHTSA]