Last year, Gooding & Company broke several all-time sales records when it came to vintage exotica, specifically Ferraris. This year, the auction house plans to do much the same. During 2011, no fewer than 15 coachbuilt examples dating from 1950 to 1963 will be up for grabs at various events including the August 20-21 Pebble Beach auction.

Collectively known as Generation Y or Millennials, those born after 1980 appear to be showing an even greater preference for ‘foreign’ brand cars in North America than even Gen-X members or the baby boomers before them.

Jeremy Clarkson, the host of Top Gear, is in hot water again for a comment he made in his column. While he was discussing the eco feature on his LG flat screen TV, he said that using the feature “dims the screen so much, every programme looks like it’s being presented by Lenny Henry in a cave.”

Move on over Ford, GM is picking up momentum. According to analysts of Morgan Stanley, General Motors is the better long-term pick among domestic automakers. Morgan Stanley has been especially impressed with the new product cadence at GM, something expected to continue with the introduction of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano.

You’re a huge Ferrari fan, and even though you can’t afford to drive one, it doesn’t mean you can’t show your admiration for the luxury auto brand in other ways. And we’ve got an affordable way to do it – you can now sport the new Scuderia Ferrari Carbon Chrono.

Rolls Royce Motor Cars has experienced tremendous success, enjoying a record half-year in 2011. The British automaker has seen an increase of sales by 64 percent worldwide, compared to the same period in 2010. Within the first six months of 2011, 1592 cars have been delivered to customers, and there is continued strong demand for both the Phantom and Ghost.

Porsche has released a unique application called the Porsche 360° app for the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. This app allows for an up-close driving experience without actually sitting inside one of the sports cars.

The app allows users to ride shotgun, alongside Porsche driver Jeroen Bleekemolen for a lap around the Zandvoort circuit. While in the simulator, the user can choose any viewing angle by moving the Apple product into the according direction.

This app is currently only available in The Netherlands, but is also in the App store in co-operation with Porsche AG.

Check out the Porsche 360° video after the jump!

Luxury cars have gotten the watch treatment… now it’s time for a motorcycle to take its place on your wrist. The special edition watch from Tudor takes its inspiration from Ducati sports bikes. This new watch marks the partnership between the two, as Tudor is now the official timekeeper of Ducati.

Luxurious timepieces are one of those essential accessories for any man that appreciates the finer things in life. Whether it’s to match their outfit or their car, wristwatches are often themed to complement the man’s other symbols of status. Mansory has been known to build some of the most extravagant luxury cars in the world, from custom luxury Rolls-Royces to sporty Ferraris. What they haven’t had, until now, is a timepiece to match their vehicles for their customers to really enjoy a Mansory way-of-life.

You’ve got an extra $25,000 sitting around – what are you going to do with it? If you appreciate a good seat, you can always blow it on the new Ferrari office chair.

So many cool watches, so little time. Tag Heuer is celebrating a partnership with Gulf Oil and Formula 1 with the limited edition Formula 1 Gulf Edition Watch.

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is launching an all new pre-paid scheduled maintenance program, adding value to customers of new, used and certified pre-owned Mazda vehicle.

As part of this most recent weekend’s festivities at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the annual Bonhams’ Classic Car Auction generated £7.2 million ($11.6 million) worth of sales, as collectors flocked to the tasty offerings up for grabs.

Kim Kardashian’s star-studded wedding will feature a fleet of white Rolls-Royce Phantom and Maybach 62 limousines, as befitting a celebrity wedding.

The Kardashians worked out a deal with Platinum Motorsports (which customizes vehicles for athletes and celebrities like David Beckham) to provide this sterling example of conspicuous consumption, which the company said was not a challenge. All the cars will be chauffer-driven, and will ferry guests around for optimal paparazzi exposure.

Plus, Kardashian insisted every vehicle be white… not matte black.

[Source: TMZ]

Curious about these Platinum Motorsports ballers? Check out the video after the jump:

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.

This weekend, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Porsche will have on display a range of iconic cars that celebrate the firm’s innovative approach to both performance and motorsport.

The Supreme Court will rule on whether or not law enforcement officers need a warrant in order to track a suspect’s vehicle with a GPS device.

Although Chrysler is maintaining that it’s current priorities still lie elsewhere, the concept of a Jeep pickup remains near and dear for the brand’s CEO John Manley.

Rolls Royce has decided to offer its British customers a very special Phantom Drophead Coupe that “was designed to capture the essence of a perfect weekend get-away, offering drivers and their passengers the ultimate luxurious and relaxing experience in roof-down motoring.”

From the Adventures in Advertising files come a series of ads for Kia that are evidently too racy for their cars (that themselves aren’t).

The ads hail from Brazil, where you think they would have an eye for this sort of thing. But Kia, a family-friendly carmaker with a full line of family-friendly toddler schleppers, is distancing itself from these cartoons that depict two things: a safe, innocent fairy tale on the left, and a hotter version on the right that leads into the back page of Oui. The ads are supposed to tout Kia’s dual-zone climate controls, which may require a stretch of the imagination that advertising bloggers possess in spades.

Kia Motors America has made it painstakingly clear (through a press release) that they don’t want or have anything to do with all of this sexy sex business, and that their cars do not represent the sort of sexy sexiness that these highly sexual, sex-laden ads are sexily promoting.

“Kia Motors America (KMA) has become aware of an offensive piece of advertising material that was created by an ad agency in Brazil that KMA has no business relationship with and has never worked with,” reads the release. “This ad was not created in the U.S. by Kia Motors America or any of its marketing partners and does not reflect the opinions or values of KMA or Kia Motors Corporation. The ad is undoubtedly inappropriate, and on behalf of Kia Motors we apologize to those who have been offended by it. We can guarantee this advertisement has never and will never be used in any form in the United States, and our global headquarters in Seoul, South Korea is addressing the issue with the independent Brazilian distributor.”

For Kia, it’s back to hamsters—possibly the least sexy of animals—and the fact that these cartoons would break down into cognitive dissonance against the wholesomeness of Yo Gabba Gabba, a children’s show that does not feature sultry schoolgirls with exposed belly buttons. Yet.

Click the jump to get a peek at the titillating ads. But no touching.

You can only afford the Gremlin, but you dream about driving a Ferrari. No need to sell one of your kidneys – just pick up the SoundRacer and it’ll sound like you’re behind the wheel of a hot sports car.

What better way to celebrate the efforts of America’s military operations in the War On Terror than a novelty hand-painted, cast resin sculpture of Osama Bin Laden’s green-faced dead head, impaled right on your Powerglide? The limited-edition piece (limited to 5,000 examples to those of us who aren’t Toby Keith) is designed in the USA (though not made here) and will sell for $69.99, or approximately six 15-packs of Stroh’s.

To promote the third Transformers movie, Cake Boss uh, boss Buddy Valastro crafted his own homage to the legendary Autobot—and as befitting of the star of a cable reality show, it’s not your average day-old Safeway bakery department birthday creation.

More sculpture than cake, the creation features Bumblebee halfway through transforming from a Camaro into an Autobot, looking like he’s sitting on a Camaro’s front end. Bumblebee’s wings move up and down via sticky, sugary hydraulics, his eyes glow, and the cake even shoots fireworks. As far as we know, there are no event entertainers (ahem) inside.

The cake was a challenge for Valastro, whose team had to sculpt it outside the bakery because at 2,000 lbs and over 12 feet tall, it wouldn’t fit: he said that it was the biggest challenge of his confectionary career. Sure is attention-grabbing, however. If you’re a dedicated fan of the Michael Bay explodathon, now you can watch the movie, drive home in your Transformers Bumblebee Camaro, play Transformers on your Xbox, and spill Transformers cake onto your Transformers sweatshirt. Click the jump to add another healthy dose of Transformers into your life.

Any car owner that has worked on their own vehicle knows what a Haynes manual is. The company has helped educate people working on their own cars for over fifty years. Now Haynes has stepped up to enter the digital age by uploading the manuals on the internet.

There’s no punch line needed for this story: if you’ve always wanted a lavishly expensive backgammon set and pieces made from the wunderkind material, carbon fiber, than look no further than Lotus.

Sales for the Fiat 500 are picking up after a slow start in the US market. The Mexican built US version was off to a slow start after only selling 3,141 units through the end of May, but the cute Italian car is gaining momentum. Chrysler has just 70 Fiat dealerships nationwide however there are plans to open another 60 by the end of the year, which should help move more units.

Lexus has unveiled a one-off Midnight Blue LS600h Landaulet for the July 2nd wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco. Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet completed the conversion, but Lexus engineers partook in the project to ensure the highest levels of quality. The Landaulet has recently been completed, and took more than 2,000 hours to complete.

Dunn had left a bar called Barnaby’s of America with passenger Zachary D. Hartwell, who was also killed when Dunn’s Porsche 911 GT3 slammed into a guardrail at over 130mph. A bar employee said that Dunn “didn’t seem intoxicated” at the time, though as we all know—that is never the case.

In an effort to reach out to what it sees as ‘new customers in urban areas,’ Aston Martin has joined forces with fashion authority colette to produce a very limited edition city car.

The young and wealthy of New York gathered in the Park Avenue Ferrari showroom in Manhattan on Tuesday to ogle a new coffee-table book that traces the history and heritage of the automaker in words and exclusive photos. Marco Mattiacci, the president of Ferrari North America, was also there to greet the chic crowd, most of them current or prospective Ferrari owners.

Ford is starting with the Edge and Explorer, to increase legibility on interior functions. This is targeted at an aging population, one that can’t necessarily see as well.

Satellite radio operator Sirius XM Radio Inc. has decided to offer purchasers of pre-owned vehicles a free three month subscription at more than 1,000 participating GM dealerships across the U.S regardless of the vehicle manufacturer.

For those of you who still haven’t stopped complaining about Top Gear America, there’s a new homegrown TV show to add to your TG USA and Motorweek rotation. “The Car Show,” hosted by Adam Carolla, will debut on Wednesday, July 13th, on the SPEED Channel.

BMW has a pretty good thing goin’, believes Mercedes. Their car-integrated app store brings together Pandora Internet radio, BMW Connected, and room for more apps within BMW’s mobile Internet service. Now, Mercedes is looking to develop their own.

From the “Tell Us Something We Don’t Know” Department comes this survey that convinces us to buy new seat covers: cars are the most preferred places by couples to have sex.

Ryan Dunn, one of the cast members of Jackass, was killed in a devastating car accident along with another passenger.

Saab’s ongoing drama will remain at a standstill for another two weeks. Saab’s Trollhattan factory in Sweden, has not produced vehicles for most of April and May because of issues regarding paying suppliers. The factory bounced back in late May, but was quickly forced to stop production when part supplies ran out yet again.

That averages to 14,000 miles every three months—usually what people drive in a year. His odometer is at 938,000 miles right now, and is eagerly anticipating its moment of rebirth. Joe, a service technician for 14 years, bought his Accord used in 1996 with approximately 74,000 miles on it. At 300,000 miles he started filling up notebooks with details of service records, and he’s taken over 661 pictures of the odometer at various lofty stages.

Mecum Auctions has announced that it will be offering a very unique Corvette collection for sale during next weekend’s Bloomington Gold event.

A Lamborghini is a great vehicle to drive to the golf course, and Lamborghini and Callaway have teamed up to create a super strong, lightweight golf club – though you may have trouble getting it in the trunk.

Who would have thought that cardboard could protect your noggin? We’re not saying that you should wear a cardboard box on your head the next time you go out for a bike ride, but before long, you could be sporting a Kranium Helmet.

So now Lexus has taken the LS460 sedan, which is an incredible luxury sedan, but lacks visual character, and added a bit of aesthetic gravitas.

Wanna make some extra dough on the side? Illinois is deciding whether to allow advertising space on its state license plates. If approved, this would allow corporate sponsors to put their business logos on the plates, which would be offered to drives at a lower price. A vote last month decided that the secretary of state should look at the pros and cons of corporate plates. Sen. John Mulroe, D-Chicago believes corporate plates will be a great way to bring in money without raising taxes.

The next time you want to buy your lady a little something to show how much you’re always thinking about her (and never about exotic cars), head over to the Ferrari Store. Here, you’ll find the uber-blingly limited edition Ferrari Masterpiece Jewel Brooch, a sparklicious piece of jewellery that keep you out of the dog house the next time your forget your anniversary to go to that classic car show.

NASCAR is looking to target a younger, hipper crowd—one that’s into this Facebook thing.

And to do so they’re introducing a Facebook game, one that promises to be less annoying than Farmville, hopefully. Piggybacking off the successful Car Town, they’ve launched the slightly more cumbersome-sounding “NASCAR Pro Championship presented by Sprint” that will be featured on a joint partnership with Car Town’s developer, Cie Games.

Microsoft is enjoying a new generation of success with the release of its Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360, but true gamers aren’t fooled by all the motion-sensing gimmickry. The thought of enjoying Forza 4 while waving your hands and arms aimlessly in the air pretending to drive a car is a little discerning, to say the least. So we’re more than a little grateful to see that Microsoft will be releasing a new Wireless Speed Wheel for those that still want to hold something in their hands while they virtually drive.

Ryan Reynolds, star of the upcoming movie “Green Lantern,” and the Nissan Leaf, the environmentally friendly electric car, are partnering in a new ad campaign that will be more green than Kermit the Frog eating a salad on St. Patrick’s Day.

A report from AOL Autos reveals that there’s a connection between our rapidly-expanding obesity rate and a struggle for manufacturers to sell small cars. The number of people defined as obese is expected to increase from 40% to 43% by 2018, according to statistics from Dan Cheng, vice president and partner at business consulting firm AT Kearney. Similarly, sales of small cars like the Mazda2 have dropped 2% since 2008, that terrible year when gas prices were $4 per gallon. They’re at 26% now, and unless people start losing either weight or money (to the gas pumps), they’re not likely to increase soon.

In the sort of story that only happens to the sort of people who have the money to burn—i.e. pro ballers—Allen Iverson’s Lamborghini has been in police lockup since April, and he probably won’t miss it.

Many watches take their inspiration from luxury cars. The newest one to take shape is Chopard’s “Engine One” for Only One charity watch, a one-off timepiece is designed to look like an engine block.

Most Cadillac dealerships are usually a part of a GM store where more affordable makes are also sold.

The Japanese Earthquake disaster of March 11, 2011, has wreaked havoc all around the world and has affected Volkswagen by interrupting supply of their backup cameras. Consumers that want a rear view camera fitted to their VW may have to wait for shipments to resume.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (a non-partisan watchdog group) says the Internal Revenue Service failed to stop millions of dollars of fraudulent claims from being issued to prisoners, the deceased and underage applicants.

In a report released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers of sport-utility vehicles, had the highest instances of death in crashes because of rollovers, however they are now those with the highest probability of survival.

Apple has officially rejected any inclusion of DUI checkpoints in its iOS apps. In this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple updated its app store to prohibit applications informing users of DUI checkpoints.

There are two things you may take away from this: 1.) there’s an International Parking Institute, and 2.) there are places in America to park that aren’t a painful, emotionally-draining experience.

In fact, places like Gateway Self Park, in Chicago, are actually a rather pleasant place to ding your bumper. The International Parking Institute cited this facility as well as 12 others around the country in the 2011 Awards of Excellence competition.

Parking is a $25 billion dollar industry, and the best parking garages are distinguished by their cutting-edge architecture, environmental impact, ease of parking, and efficiency. The Chicago garage, for example, recycles its own water and power and features electric charging and a green roof. Categories included “Best Design of a Parking Facility with Fewer than 800 Spaces,” “Best Parking Facility Rehabilitation or Restoration,” and “Innovation in a Parking Operation or Program,” which does not just consist of getting your parking validated from TGI Friday’s.

Click the jump to see if your city made it.

Németh also filmed the assembly line with BMW’s permission, as well as presenting spoken testimony from accident survivors. Despite BMW’s involvement, they did not finance any aspect of the work. However, they did label the 5-Series as “a crashed BMW as a tragic hero.” Nice try, Aeschylus.

I DRAW CARS is being put together to help budding automotive designers improve their skill. The book will serve as both a sketchbook and a reference guide for blossoming artists interested in sketching cars.

Chrysler has announced that Ralph Gilles will now serve as the President and CEO of the SRT division, also referred to as the Chysler Street and Racing Technology brand. SRT is responisble for building Chryslers high performance vehicles.

We’ve heard about automakers crossing over into clothing, accessories and lifestyle products, but this is the first we’ve heard about crossing over to housing developments. And that’s just what Aston Martin is doing.