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It’s incredible that there can be so many goings on around a little car show. There was a spot of turmoil in the last shortened season of Top Gear, a few grumblings of unhappy presenters, and then the hallowed BBC couldn’t figure out when the next season was going to begin. But here we are, the date has arrived: Top Gear version 12 will commence on November 2nd, 2008, A.D. I guess then we’ll start to find out what they’re doing in Vietnam…

The duPont Registry has listed the best cars in eleven categories, and taking the cake for 2009 Car of the Year is the Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport. Other winners, like the ZR1 for Bang for the Buck and Continental Flying Spur Speed for Performance Sedan, make up the usual murderers’ row of marques and models. What isn’t usual is that in just one year, the total price of all the cars jumped 200% to $4.5 million because of a certain Bug and a Koenigsegg, and that the total horsepower climbed 57%, from 4,276 to 6,723.

Oddly, though, duPont says that the era of hi-po supercars may have peaked, and things could be going green – but neither the list nor the facts on the ground bear it out. Of the eleven cars, only the Tesla and the Ronn Motors Scorpion could be considered green, and one of them doesn’t even exist yet. As for the rest, we don’t know what the opposite of green is, but none of the nine other cars are expected to have less horsepower in their follow-up guises. Which means there’s still time to get some thrills in, as long as you’ve got at least $110,000 to spend…

In these tight economic times, the project car budget typically gets left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately for addicted enthusiasts there are resources, such as Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, to prove that it is still possible to put together a prize winning ride for only a few bills. Just in time to save the wavering automotive habit of frugal individuals comes the Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2008 Challenge. For the past nine years, the magazine crew dedicated to amateur motorsports has organized an annual competition of cars built around a budget equal to the current year in dollars. It may sound impossibly restrictive, but some competitors even come in under the cap. The 2007 champion, a Chevrolet Corvette sucker-car, managed to top the field for less than two grand. The monetary limitation forces creative and innovative back-yard engineering amongst the entrants.

The $2008 Challenge will take place October 3 – 4 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, FL. The cars will spend a grueling two days dueling it out on the autocross course, drag strip and even the parking lot for a car show. Competitors should also be brushed up on their accounting skills since they are required to keep an itemized list of all their expenses. This detail keeps the event fair and also offers the magazine’s readership inspiration to create their own budget racers.

Devastator, a massive Decepticon made out of five, or six, or seven Constructicons, depending on which source you cite, will be in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. In the oddest case of reasoning we can imagine, he’s said to have “massive upper body strength, like a gorilla.” Devastator is a simpleton with one mission: heavy metal whoopass. But he’s pretty easy to trip up since he’s not so smart, which could be what the gorilla comment is about. Nevertheless, when upright, he’s pretty good at what he does: his signature line is “Nothing defeats the Devastator. Nothing!” For the Autobots and humans, that’ll probably mean a beatin

Turns out the recreational and commercial vehicle show in Dusseldorf, Germany has attracted more concepts than the just the Fiat Portofino. Volkswagen showed up with the Caddy Topos Sail concept, another nautical-themed vehicle that brings the boat life to land locked lovers of the water. Based on the Caddy MPV, the Topos Sail concept’s biggest attraction is its roof, which is covered in wood decking and surrounded on all sides by aluminum roof rails. The roof deck is designed for lounging in the sun just like on the deck of a yacht, and the panels flip up to act as back rests. The concept also features a nifty ladder built into the rear lift gate with wooden steps, as well as wood trim elsewhere on the vehicle’s exterior. We’re certain it doesn’t float, but you could park the Topos Sail down by the docks, climb up on the roof and order a daiquiri to get the full effect.

Being that my family’s in the motor home business, I know a thing or two about RVs. One thing I know is that they don’t like going off road. Hell, they don’t like potholes and speedbumps. Being constructed mostly of balsa wood and tinker toys, modern RVs tend to shake like an earthquake over anything but ribbon-smooth pavement. That’s why the EarthRoamer XV-JP is unique. It’s the only camper that’s ever traversed the Rubicon Trail without flipping on its roof, and that’s due mostly to the fact that it’s based on the Jeep Wranger Rubicon Unlimited platform. In place of the standard Jeep’s two rear doors is a big box containing a bench seat, small kitchen, a toilet (!) and extra storage. It’s not very roomy, but the ‘Loftop’ roof flips opens to increase headroom to, oh, about nine feet, as well as make room for the queen size bed on which you’ll be sleeping. There’s even an 80-watt solar panel on the roof to charge the batteries when you’re parked and a 160-amp engine alternator to keep things powered while on the move. A 6,100btu furnace, 25-gallon water tank and indoor and outdoor showers round out the RV-ification of this Jeep. For those looking to tackle some serious bush, the EarthRoamer packs electric locking front and rear differentials, an electric sway bar disconnect, twin Dana 44 differentials and a Warn 9000 heavy-duty winch. If you do head for the trail, though, just make sure your pots and pans are securely stowed.

First art imitates life and now video games do the same, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan having joined forces to create the GT Academy. Over the course of eight months, the academy culled a group of wannabe racers from a field of entrants who posted the best lap times in GT5 Prologue. Then, for five days at Silverstone, the finalists competed in the game and on the actual track, watched by ex-F1 racer Johnny Herbert and a panel of five judges.

The two winners were just announced, and Top Gun status went to Lars Schlomer and Luis Ordonez. Schlomer is a taxi driver in Bonn, Germany; Ordonez is an MBA student from Spain. Now that they’ve won, they’ll be thrown into boot camp for four months to learn to how to race for real silver: in four months, they’ll have to earn their racing licenses and get ready to drive a factory-backed Nissan 350Z in the 24 Hours of Dubai this coming January.The rest of us will have to be content with GT5 Prologue for now…

Trevor Creed resigned from the position of Chrysler’s head of design, and as of today is succeeded by Ralph Gilles, the man who designed the 300C. Since every change at the top comes with a “new sheriff in town” speech — or at least one-liner — this is what Gilles had to say: “It’s definitely time for a new aesthetic at Chrysler. … We’re done with the ‘edge’ look.”

Gilles says he wants the Pentastar’s cars to look more “organic.” This being art, however, that could really mean anything. For concrete examples and practical considerations he mentioned the Dodge Zeo and Chrysler Ecovoyager, and said that he wants to design “sexy” cars that will appeal around the world. Intriguing statements from the gent known for a car that epitomizes the American muscle sedan, but we are all in favor, and we say “aye.” The only question is how soon will they start the redesign, and what will organic look like?

Devil May Care, the new James Bond novel set back during the Cold War in 1967, arrives on bookstore shelves May 28th. The book’s author, Sebastian Faulkes, has written the story in the style of the late Ian Fleming to celebrate the 007 creator’s centenary. As we first reported last September, MI6’s greatest secret agent also returns to his Bentley-driving roots in Devil May Care. The car is the same one he drives in Fleming’s Thunderball and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: a custom 2-seat Bentley R type Continental convertible with the 4½-liter engine from a Mk VI stuffed underhood. To celebrate Bond’s return to Bentley, Penguin Books asked the automaker to design a very limited Special Series Edition — just 300 copies will be made. (Anyone want to place bets on the aftermarket value of book #007?)

Under the supervision of chief designer Dirk Van Braeckel (the man responsible for the current Continental GT’s lines), Bentley has delivered a leather-bound, heirloom-quality piece. The ‘Flying B’ hood ornament is featured on the cover and spine, and the outer leather is stitched in the same diamond pattern you’ll find on the seating surfaces of a modern Bentley road car. The inside cover is also finished off in leather, but is styled in tune with cars of the era in which the story is set. The typeface used is the same one you’ll find in a Bentley owner’s manual, and each individually-numbered book comes with a matching-number pewter die-cast R type model and a similarly-snazzy book block. The numbering on each book, by the way, is featured on a metal plate supplied by the same firm who does the engine plates for the cars. Finally, all books come with a plexiglass slipcase.

As you might expect, this mega-exclusive book is also mega-expensive. £750 will put one on the bookshelf, where it would surely look nice next to the divorce papers you’ll be handed shortly after its arrival. If you’re a Bond completist, recent lottery winner, or a Bentley fanatic, you can order the super special edition via Penguin007.com, where they’ve got all manner of Bond info, a countdown clock ticking off the seconds to the book’s release and a link to the Special Series Edition minisite. You regular folk (we know you’re out there) can meet us at Amazon, where the pricing’s a bit more in tune with blogger pay.

[Sources: Bentley, Penguin Books]

Autoblog does a lot of posts on car-related timepieces, and that’s thanks to Noah who has an affinity for the finer automotive-inspired paraphernalia in life. Unfortunately, he’s not here right now, so I get to tell you about this new limited edition Mercedes-Benz SL 63 that’s being produced in conjunction with Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen. Only 200 will be made, and each features the first application of a new white paint finish dubbed designo magno Kashmir.

 Though my desensitized retinas see plain old white where others see shades of Pearl and Egg Shell, there’s no denying this brilliant veneer looks like a million bucks on the SL 63 AMG. Contrast that with the matte black finish of other components on the car’s exterior, and you’ve got the world’s most expensive Storm Trooper. Tobago Brown nappa leather will cradle your bum in the AMG sport seats while your feet fall on special black floormats that are one of about a dozen interior surfaces emblazoned with the AMG logo. The rest is pretty much standard SL 63 AMG fare, if you can call anything about this 525-hp convertible standard with a straight face.Oh, yeah, the watchmaker tie-in: All 200 owners of the SL 63 AMG Edition IWC will also get a limited edition example of IWC’s “Grosser Ingenieur” watch. Nothing can replace my Swatch, but I would definitely take the car.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]