That is how the hot ride from McLaren arrives in North America. Get ready to write a check and burn a $229,000 hole in your bank account if you want to be behind the wheels of the new McLaren MP4-12C. Add around $2,400 to that for destination charges and other processing fees.

The British car marque recently confirmed that the consumers of the United States and Canada can expect deliveries soon. The video above of the first batch of the McLaren supercars getting off a vessel in a port in Baltimore, Maryland was also released to bolster the marketing campaign for the MP4-12C.

The McLaren MP4-12C has a heart of a V8 twin turbocharged 3.8L powerplant that gives out 592 horsepower and a peak torque of 442.5 lb-ft. The 12C can blast from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in a matter of 3.2 seconds. Give it a set of Pzero Corsa rubber from Pirelli and you can bring the sprint down to a flat 3 seconds.

McLaren has currently 10 dealerships in North America. They have McLaren Toronto, McLaren Berverly Hills, McLaren San Francisco, McLaren Newport Beach, McLaren Chicago, McLaren Dallas, McLaren Greenwich, McLaren Tampa, McLaren Philadelphia, and the Collection McLaren in Miami.

Toyota turns heads at the 2011 SEMA it brings a range of customize Scions like some of the iQ minicar interpretations.

Scion iQ RS

This iQ minicar was designed by Michael Chang and features a clean and simple design making use of a Wraptivo exterior wrap in matte-white, powder coated red rims by Advan Racing RT, and carbon fiber areodynamic components like for the rear wing, fender flares, and hood. The designer also utilized suspension setup from Air Runner, racing tires from Toyo, Sparco seats, and brakes by Wilwood.

Scion Pit Boss

The Pit Boss version of the iQ minicar designed by Cartel spots suspension b Accuair, brake calipers with six pistons by Wilwood Dynapro, and wheels by Lorezon hugged by Proxes tires by Toyo. The roof was chopped off and instead a roll cage was installed. The entertainment setup comes from Alpine and has full iPad and mobile integration features.

Scion iQ RX

This Jon Sibal creation is in mettalic gray in matte finishing in tandem with the trim in matte black. The alloy rims from HRE are painted in black and paired with red brake calipers from Stoptech. The engine is boosted with equipment from Nitrous Express. Other features include suspension by Air Runner, Proxes 4 tyres from Toyo, and aerodynamic kits from Veilside.

Scion iQ-MR

Tatsu re-invented this iQ minicar with a big intake mounted on its roof, custom body work by Specialtycars, roll cage , and Sparco steering wheel and seats, Falken tires on Axis Sakura rims, and an engine rebuilt done by Mavrik motorsports.

There is also Dynamics Scion Gruppe S which gives the car carbon fiber roof hood, deck lid, front splitter, and rear wing. It also gets upgraded bakes, suspension system, and turbo kit.

A tri-tone Numeric is also on display. This Scion was done by 686 and fits the lifestyle of thos who love skateboarding and snowboarding, but it might look a bit stranger than usual.

Despite struggling financially, Swedish car maker Volvo will push with its plans of rolling out a new hybrid plug-in vehicle by 2012. The move is part of achieving their targets outlined under their DRIVe Towards Zero green campaign. The top executive of Volvo, Stephen O’ Dell, reaffirms the production of the plug-in hybrid but said that they still don’t have a business case to market it in the United States.

volvo plug-in diesel hybridThe Volvo plug-in is expected to hit the asphalts of Europe by 2012. The car can run on electricity alone for 60 miles on a single charge. The vehicle will be produce under an agreement of cooperation with Vattenfall, an energy supplier in Sweden, which will develop the electric system of the vehicle.

The joint venture between Volvo and Vattenfall was sealed since 2007. Saab also joined the accord to develop the needed technology last year. Volvo has developed concept cars like the one deriving its DNA from the C30 hatchback. Saab has also their concept car 9-X BioHybrid. There have also been sightings of the hybrid plug in versions of the V70 of Volvo along the public thoroughfares in Europe.

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As earlier reports have it, the German auto maker Audi is currently working on the R4 sports car. This is going to be a Boxter-type sports vehicle armed with a mid-engine. The only bad news is that Volkswagen hasn’t given the nod yet for the production of the R4 sports car. VW is still yet to decide whether they will be using steel or alloy for the sports car’s body.

The only information released was that the new vehicle will be using the same platform as the VW Bluesport. This vehicle was previewed during the Bluesport Concept unveil in the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Meanwhile, a preview of the R4 sports car was in the e-tron Concept’s unveil at the Detroit Motor Show this year.

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Navistar International started the production of their 2-ton electric cargo van just seven months after receiving the $39 million development grant from the federal government.

During a press conference, the company foresees an initial volume of 4,000 units of the eStar trucks this 2010 and will eventually ramp up to 5,000 vehicles due for production at their Elkhart, Indiana factory.

navistar electric vanThe first four units of the electric cargo van went to FedEx and were sold with a sticker price lower than $150,000 each. FedEx is utilizing the units for their fleet in the Los Angeles metro area.

The executives of Navistar did not disclose the figures for pre-production sales but hinted that they received calls and orders for around 200 vehicles this year.

Though Navistar produces the eStar, Modec makes its chassis while the quick change battery pack is produced by the A123 Systems.

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Bridie TuckerSo how do you redeem yourself after a recall catastrophe? Toyota rises from the ashes with an aggressive European ad campaign which costs the company $26.3 million. After all, good reputations do cost a lot of money. This is all necessary, according to Toyota, to get back the trust of its consumers, especially the European market.

The ad campaign in Europe includes print, online, and pan-TV exposure. Who stars in the said ads? Assembly line worker Bridie Tucker, who works for the company’s factory in Burnaston Central England, takes one for the team. While the film rolls, he tells consumers that whenever he spots a problem, he just needs to pull the cord and the production line stops. The model won’t be released until the problem has been dealt with.

The particular assembly line featured in the ad campaign makes mid-sized Avensis and Auris-compact. Tucker also mentions how he has pulled the Andon cord “a thousand times”. Whoever wrote the script for the ad also managed to throw in the keyphrases “personally responsible” and “highest quality car” into Tucker’s spiel.

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According to the report made by the European Environment Agency, the cleanest and greenest transportation modes are only decreasing, while the polluters of the road are still on the go. This means that the continent is also emitting more carbon dioxide.

In the annual review on the impact posed by the transportation segment on the environment, the EU agency declared that both road and air freight Green Transportationare still leaving behind a huge CO2 footprint. As a matter of fact, it grew by 43% between 1997 and 2007. Over the same period, it should also be noted that the market share of rail and inland waterways which are the cleanest freight modes, dropped in the same decade.

This is also probably due to the fact that the European countries which have joined the European Union in the 90s maintained poor rail connections going to Western Europe. Because of this, European airlines are flying more frequently every 10 years.

It should be noted, though, that these survey figures are not consistent throughout Europe. While the rail transport demand declined significantly in Eastern Europe, demand for rail in Western Europe remained the same between 1997 and 2007.

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The Ferrari 599 GTO is the fastest road car ever from the Italian marque’s garage. That is really a statement which puts the car on a pedestal considering that the Ferrari lineup consists of great supercars like the F40 and Enzo. Knowing the car’s capabilities, Ferrari also revived the GTO badge or Gran Turismo Omologata which was last issued to the 288 GTO a century ago in Modena.

The V12 Berlinetta, which will come as a limited variant of the 599 units, was unveiled at the Ducal Palace of the Military Academy in Modena, Italy. Aside from Modena being the carmaker’s hometown, the brand also wants to be associated with the Academy as symbols of Italian excellence.

The night of the premiere was opened with a speech by the current chairman of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo. Executives like Chief Executive Officer Amede Felisa and Vice President Piero Ferrari graced the occasion.

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Any beefed up BMW from the custom house Alpina is a stuff of legends. Alpina has been taking the challenge of making the best of the BMW line up the crème de la crème of tuned automotives. They have done the 8-Series, 7-Series, 6-Series, and 3-Series. They also have done the BMW roadsters Z8, Z4, and Z1. Alpina also toyed with the latest 5-Series and transformed it to the 2011 Alpina B5 as you can see on this website.

The last time the B5 badge was used was when they tuned the E60/61 5-Series while the previous releases of the 5-Series cars were named B10, B9, and B7.

The details about the new Alpina B5 are still very limited but we expect the car to have a similar structure as the 2011 B7 which was unwrapped earlier during the Chicago Auto Show. The xDrive variant of the B7 is expected to hit the New York motor show this week.

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The need to develop a ride that has a low or zero impact on the environment is felt by every carmaker. Even a luxury brand like Bentley wants to join the race of making appealing biofuel units. Bentley will be showcasing the 2011 Continental Supersports Convertible in the upcoming Geneva Motor Show next month.

The new member of the Bentley garage is their most powerful and fastest droptop in Bentley’s history. The Supersports Convertible features the engine of its Coupe sibling released last year. The power plant under its hood is a W-12 which outputs 612 horsepower. The car can zoom from 0 to 60 mph in a blink of 3.9 seconds. It is capable of hitting a top speed of 202 mph which makes it the fastest 4-seater in the convertible segment. The peak torque of this powerful machine remains at 590 pound feet from 2,000 rpm to 4,500 rpm.

The improved performance of the car can be attributed to its capacity to utilize biofuels like ethanol. The positive traits of biofuel use help produce the power needed while keeping the levels of carbon dioxide very low. The ethanol also helps in keeping temperatures down in the combustion chamber allowing it to give out more power.

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