The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a new test dummy yesterday in an effort to further improve its crash testing procedures.

The new dummy weighs 74 pounds and is meant to simulate a child nearing the maximum recommended size for a car seat: 80 pounds. That figure was recently revised by NHTSA, where the group previously suggested children shoudl remain in car steats until their grew past 4 feet, 9 inches tall or were older than eight.

“Our new dummy is an excellent addition to NHTSA’s extensive child seat compliance testing program and will enable the agency to gather the best data yet on the performance of higher-weight child seats,” said David Strickland, NHTSA Administrator.”Even as we begin to reap the benefits of this new tool, NHTSA is already looking down the road and has research under way to further improve the dummy.”

Scientific studies suggesting heavier weight recommendations for children remaining in auxiliary restraints like car seats caused a shift in statistics as children remained in them later. That in turn forced NHTSA to add the dummy meant to mimic a typical 10-year-old child.

“It’s good news that manufacturers are making more car seats and boosters than ever before designed to keep older and heavier children safer on our roadways,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “The new test dummy breaks new ground for the Department’s crash test program and is a significant step forward for evaluating child seat performance.”

In 2009, an FBI agent tasked with transporting a seized Ferrari F50 failed to safely deliver the cargo, instead wrecking the vehicle and sparking a fight with the vehicle’s insurance company.

Now, a Ferrari F50 that seems to match the description, seen in the gallery below, of the car originally stolen from a dealership in Philadelphia is up for auction and only bid thus far up to $65,000.

That’s quite a discount from the $750,000 price tag the F50 would carry without its present injuries. Still, repairing a Ferrari is anything but a poor man’s path to performance, expect to spend an awful lot of money to have anything remotely close to the original car.

Vehicle Inspection Pros, a group that works with the auction company selling the F50, charges $150 just to tell you what’s wrong with the car. While that’s peanuts to anyone buying a car, the body damage looks severe enough to warrant serious repair bills.

Unless spending more than $65,000 on something that might just be a scrap heap appeals to you, there are much better exotic options. Sure it’s not an F50, but if Ferraris are your thing there are about 100 Ferrari 360 Modena’s on Ebay right now within that price range.

GALLERY: Wrecked Ferrari F50

[Source: Jalopnik]

Don’t rush to get a manual-transmission Porsche 911 yet, but it seems production of the seven-speed sports car might be limited to the next eight years.

Michael Schätzle, project manager of the new 911, said so in an interview with Automobile, citing sales figures that say 78 percent of the seventh-generation 911 sold with the PDK dual-clutch automatic. It’s a fact that might make driving purists cringe, but transmissions like Porsche’s PDK offer faster, more efficient shifts and consequently improved forward propulsion potential and efficiency.

The 2012 911 actually got a seven-speed manual, as mentioned above, which is a departure from the majority of cars being sold today. Instead it’s more common to see something along the lines of Mercedes-Benz‘ seven-speed automatic or Porsche’s PDK in high-end cars. Nonetheless, the company will offer a manual for the better part of the coming decade, if not longer.

It’s tough to see exactly what else will be available that far in the future, but easy to imagine feeling just as disappointed at not being able to throw a stick around during a 3-2 downshift and feeling the rear tires’ grip melt away.

As for that murky future, Schätzle told Automobile that Porsche is interested in looking at a 9-speed PDK for future models, though such extra gears will require a re-engineered transmission.

Schätzle also said the views he was expressing were his own, not those of Porsche. He also said that even if manuals are forgotten in the 911, they would likely remain on less expensive models.

GALLERY: 2012 Porsche 911

[Source: Automobile]

Marco Mattiacci, CEO of Ferrari North America, has officially been given the 2012 Automotive Executive of the Year award and is the first Italian executive to receive the award.

“This year, the nominating committee chose to recognize Marco Mattiacci as an emerging leader whose accomplishments are certainly impressive and worthy of recognition,” said Robert Djurovic, executive director of the Automotive Executive of the Year Award program.

The accomplishments Djurovic described included increasing sales in North, Central, and South America 20 percent since his appointment in January 2010.

Mattiacci is the first Italian executive to receive the award. “After more than 55 years in North America, Ferrari’s largest market, we continue to showcase the company and its innovation, the growth of our product offerings,and consistently place a priority on the relationship with our clientele and enthusiasts,” he said.

It’s been a long time since Ferrari failed to evoke an enthusiastic response, though that has happened, think back to the 1980 Mondial 8. This is certainly a good time to get excited about new models coming off the line.

The 620 GT, successor to the 599 GTB Fiorano, is set to debut at next month’s Geneva Auto Show and will probably blow the doors off the competition. Hopefully Mattiacci has more like this on tap for the future.

That said, we were a little surprised the nod didn’t go to Sergio Marchionne, Fiat-Chrysler CEO, who achieved something many thought impossible: returing Chrysler to profitability. To be fair, there are still plenty of pitfalls in his way. Maybe next year?

For now we’re keeping a close eye on the iconic prancing horse badge, excited to know whats next.

A selection of leaked images are providing a clear picture of the next generation Audi A3 hatchback.

The photos, leaked by ZR.ru, clearly show Audi’s big hexagonal grille and the sharp lines running from where that mouth meets the pointed headlights, all the way to the windshield. Details on the car aren’t out yet, but should emerge in advance of its release expected later this year. Look for several diesel options for Europe, as well as Audi’s 2.0T gasoline engine.

The A3 is based on Volkswagen Group’s new MQB versatile platform, which is said to eventually become the underpinnings for as many as 60 models.

Traditionally, Audi always releases new products in Europe well ahead of bringing them stateside. In the past, we’ve reported that the A3 hatchback will actually be discontinued in the U.S. in favor of a more Americanized sedan.

In either case we’ll be watching to see what happens next. For now you can look at our gallery below and weigh in under the comments section.

GALLERY: 2013 Audi A3 Hatchback leaked

Honda is increasing its commitment to racing in 2012 by officially sponsoring teams entering the Pirelli World Challenge thanks to growing interest in both the U.S. and Canada.

Honda Performance Development (HPD) provides components and support to teams ranging from amateur to professional levels. In the past the company supported teams in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Challenge Series, but will move into the Sports Car Club of America’s World Challenge and B-Spec categories as well.

“With the development of the 2012 Honda Civic Si for Touring Car racing and the introduction of B-Spec for both professional and club racing, it’s been a very busy off-season for HPD,” said Lee Niffenegger, HPD senior engineer responsible for production-based racing.

“There has been a definite upsurge in interest from both the U.S. and Canada for this year, and we’re looking forward to exciting seasons in Grand-Am, World Challenge and Canadian Touring Cars,” he said.

According to Honda, the Civic Si is the car of choice this year with at least five teams taking part in the 14-race schedule in the World Challenge Touring Car class. Cars that run these races range from being almost factory stock to heavily modified based on the series. World Challenge Touring Car entrants run on the less modified end of that spectrum.

In the B-Spec segment, Honda will race their Fit cars, which represents and inexpensive, entry-level option for racers to get into the sport.

Compass360, a Toronto-based racing team has long used Hondas to compete in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and Gand Am series and claimed first place in the 2010 Canadian Touring Car Championship for Honda.

This year Compass360 will also enter the World Challenge for Honda with a multi-car effort in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge and Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

GALLERY: Compass360 Civic Si

A Chevrolet Volt owner made Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich look pretty silly by posting a video response to the senator’s comment today that you can’t have a gun rack in a Chevrolet Volt.

It turns out that a little bit of PVC pipe, some string string and American ingenuity make darn good rifle toting material in the back of a Volt, or really any sedan. Before getting to deeply into what goes on in the citizen rebulttle, let’s go over what Gingrich said to stir this stuff up.

“You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car. The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama’s idea of populism and in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000.” Gingrich said. “Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn’t be an ‘Obama’ car.”

“But here’s my point folks: You can’t put a gun rack in a Volt,” he said to much laughter and applause.

Well, it looks like there’s going to be a lot more laughter, though probably not on the Gingrich campaign trail. Perhaps politicians in general should avoid using absolutes, of only to avoid looking silly after saying words like “can’t” or “never.”

Maybe the world should be thanking Gingrich. His rant spurred someone to build a new Volt accessory that Chevrolet certainly wouldn’t hav e thought to market.

You can watch videos of both Gingrich and the gun rack after the jump.

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Backup cameras used to be a premium feature, but that will change thanks to a federal mandate expected Feb. 29.

If it goes through, the little screens that keep drivers from backing into objects will be required on all new US vehicles. The move is meant to cut down on the current death and injury statistics for backup accidents which account for 292 deaths and 3,000 serious injuries per year, according to federal statistics.

Aside from mandating the camera’s general implementation, it seems that such technology is likely be be standardized to require a 10-foot wide by 20-foot deep field of vision.

While back-up cams like the one in the Kia Sorento (above) and the annoying sonar-like beeping feature to prevent you from swapping paint with your neighbor are probably less than exciting for most drivers, there is a silver lining to the new rule.

If automakers are forced to start sticking screens into every dashboard, it’s likely that more new cars will have an infotainment system. Such technology is already finding its way into a growing list of cars, but its easy to imagine the champagne might already be flowing for companies who supply manufacturers with this equipment, after all what’s better than having an extremely inelastic good for sale?

Product manufacturers are probably giggling with glee, but consumers are probably feeling a little burned by an extra cost being forced into their next new car purchase. How much will this new requirement cost you?

That will ultimately depend on the manufacturer, but we’re betting it’s not going to be a big deal, at least as far as the budget compact segment is concerned.

Luxury automakers always find ways to charge more for their features and to be fair you often get a better product. It’s fair to assume, however, that individual unit costs will shrink as unit production goes up. Right now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that it costs about $200 to install a video system and back up camera into a car.

It’s the same as buying breakfast cereal at Costco: things are cheaper in greater volume. Beyond that, it’s up to the manufacturer to decide how much of the additional cost it will bear and what portion to pass on.

This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise but it seems that Chinese consumers are less enthusiastic toward million-dollar cars in a cooling economy.

Christian Mastro, Lamborghini‘s Asia Pacific general manager told Automotive News last friday that economic uncertainty may be causing consumers to hesitate before spending. ”The number of people able to spend this kind of money is limited, it’s not unlimited,” he said.

It’s important to consider that Lamborghini sales jumped 70 percent last year in China. Maintaining such a sales spike in the long run is difficult, if not impossible. From an economic perspective, a slowdown makes sense and should be predictable for Lamborghini considering the Chinese economy cooled to the slowest pace its seen in two years.

That said, the company is still hoping to boost sales by 20 to 30 percent this year. Chinese consumers account for almost 9 percent of the Aventador LP 700-4s sold globally. Furthermore, that portion is absorbed and demand remains for the $1 million car to the tune of an 18-month waiting list.

Lamborghini plans to actively promote their products in an effort to drum up more sales by expanding its dealer network and increasing advertising expenditure by 20 percent. The company also plans to start offering track days to peak new consumer interest. It seems there is still some fight left in the bull.

GALLERY: Lamborghini Aventador

[Source: Automotive News]

MINI was set to announce later today that their Clubvan concept will debut on March 6 at the Geneva Auto Show, showcasing a marriage between fun and functionality, which is something this car employs at its core. (Photos and info have, however, leaked ahead of a scheduled embargo.)

It does so by axing the interior MINI fans are familiar with in favor of a closed-off rear area designed for cargo. The rear windows are opaque and give the car a van-like look that justifies its namesake.

While it might not be the sort of vehicle you can carry a few friends in, the company’s latest concept promises business-oriented customers a practical solution to small cargo transportation. The concept’s five-door setup is meant to be practical yet stylish with double swinging rear doors, a driver’s side and passenger door and a suicide-style fifth door to allow easy access to all parts of the cargo bed without the need to crawl in.

Inside that cargo cabin, customers can expect hooks at varying levels meant for straps or rope to keep things from clunking around during the drive.

People sitting in one of the car’s two seats get the benefit of a metal mesh divider to keep wayward items from falling in their laps while still being able to see whatever they’re transporting.

Should the concept come to be, customers can also expect a line of pre-made shelves and drawers meant to fit in the cabin for additional storage practicality as well as 12-volt outlets in the cargo section.

We’ll be in Geneva next month bringing you this and the other debuts as they happen.

GALLERY: MINI Clubvan concept

See AutoGuide’s complete 2012 Geneva Motor Show Preview Here