LUSARAP

It feels like there is a secret law in Germany mandating that every domestic automaker there must offer at least one model with a four-door coupe bodystyle like the BMW Gran Coupes, Mercedes-Benz CLS and Audi A7. Several of the German brands even have the swoopy sedans in multiple sizes. So far, Lexus has stayed out of that fray, but maybe not for long, if a recently spotted test car makes it to market.

The brand is known to be testing a highly styled four-door coupe, roughly the size of the GS, under heavy camouflage. Little is known about the new model at the moment, but its existence makes sense. If it really wants to take the on Germans, Lexus is going to have to fight them toe-to-toe with competing models â€" especially with ones understood to have high margins.

Pictured above is a rendering from artist Theophilus Chin imagining a slightly smaller take on the genre based on the RC coupe, which he calls the RC GT. His design leaves the original shape almost untouched, but shortens the front doors to allow room for a rear doors under the arching roof. His GT would be aimed more against the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe and rumored Mercedes-Benz C-Class four-door coupe, rather than the larger models Lexus actually appears to be targeting with its vehicle under development. His concept certainly nails the look, though, and while it might not have a basis in reality, we thought that its well-resolved enough that youd want to take a look, if only as a "what couldve been" flight of fancy.

Certain requests for description simply cannot be fulfilled, like if someone asked you to describe Picassos Guernica or Gilliams Brazil. There is only one appropriate answer to such entreaties, and that is: "You just gotta see it." Thats where we are with the latest episode of Roadkill, wherein Messrs Freiburger and Finnegan dig out a 1968 Dodge Charger that Freiburger acquired in exchange for a set of cylinder heads, and intend to stuff it with the big-block motor from a long-bed, three-quarter ton Dodge pickup.

Only the pickup is too nice to tear apart, and the Charger needs a whole lot more lovin â€" and parts â€" than initially expected. Enter, stage right, the Class A Dodge Pace Arrow motorhome with a 440 big-block purchased for $1,000, and a retired Plymouth Fury from a previous episode.

What ensues over the course of the 40-minute installment is more cuttin, yankin, leakin, stallin, hammerin and smokin action than youve seen in a long time, and some techniques that would have made even Cooter wonder, "Im not sure if we should do that." By the end, though, the payoff is good enough to make you think about perusing AutoTrader for a 68 Charger just to see if maybe...

And still, we havent properly described it, so have a watch of the video below.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

Most of us are never going to be like Jay Leno and drive a new car every day. However, its possibly affordable to collect a handful of vintage rides, especially if you look a touch off the beaten path. In recent video, Petrolicious highlights Hans Abrahams, who is doing just that. He has three 1960s, European classics that love to be driven.

The absolute star of the trio is a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger. In the cabin, it has the meaty growl of a muscle car, but outside it has a little of the raspiness of period European cars. Abrahams says its mostly original except for its Ford 289-cubic-inch (4.7-liter) V8 with Shelby parts, producing around 273 horsepower. He says i ts a bit difficult to maintain and hard to keep cool, but when you hear it, you know the trouble is worth it.

Next up, is Abrahams 1965 MGB that is a bit of a monster in its own right. It lacks the Tigers oomph under the hood, but its loud enough to blow out Petrolicious microphone. Its still a very cool little roadster.

Finally, there is a 1967 Volvo Amazon 123GT, Abrahams daily driver, that might secretly be the best of the lot. While it probably wouldnt win a race with its two siblings in Abrahams garage, its the most livable and still sounds absolutely amazing. At full chat, its like a hive of angry hornets live under the hood.

Scroll down and turn up the speakers to listen to this European power trio.

LONDON â€" Jan 22, 2014: Volvo Car UK is transforming the way it communicates with its customers with the launch of ‘My Volvo’, an innovative new web portal.

My Volvo, which launches this week, is a new service that enables customers to establish an online relationship direct with Volvo Car UK that is personal to them and their car.

Existing customers can simply register their details via the portal at www.volvocars.co.uk/myvolvo to access a huge library of information, product news and exclusive offers and see information about their own car.

Even more exciting, for customers new to the brand, they can keep in touch right from the start of the experience, by tracking their car’s progress from the factory to its new home here in the UK.

While they await its arrival, they can also find out more about Volvo, familiarise themselves with Volvo ownership and even investigate some of their new car’s key features and technologies online.

The My Volvo site features video guides to a variety of features found on the latest Volvo models, including tips on pairing smartphones with the car via Bluetooth; how the infotainment system works; what security features are included on the vehicle and how to use the satnav.

In addition, there is a whole host of practical information â€" for example how to load the vehicle for a family holiday; driving with children and pets; tips for long-distance drives; advice on ways of driving more fuel efficiently and preparing for winter driving.

Future developments will include the ability to book vehicle servicing and maintenance with a Volvo retailer, while new send-to-car capabilities could, for example, allow customers to pre-set the cabin temperature or send destination information to their car’s satnav ahead of a journey.

David Baddeley, Customer Services Director at Volvo Car UK, said: “This is a real innovation for Volvo that will strengthen both our relationship with our customers and the way in which we communicate with them.

“We know that our customers value convenience and quality of service, so we’ve designed My Volvo to reflect those values as part of a unique customer service experience. The web portal enables us to build long-term, one-to-one relationships with people and further enrich the service we offer them.”

Published: Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, 9:00 p.m.

A world without traffic fatalities sounds like a pretty nice future. New Yorks newly inaugurated mayor, Bill de Blasio, is aiming to make the Big Apple just such a place, following through on his ambitious "Vision Zero" plan to eliminate all fatalities to drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians on the citys streets within 10 years.

If that sounds like a tall order, it is. To help monitor the progress of the plan, Right of Way, an advocacy group, has established a website to track deaths in the four categories mentioned above, and to keep an eye on the progress of de Blasios plan. Every time theres a death, RoW will tweet about it, as well, as part of an ongoing Twitter campaign.

"There will obviously be many competing interests for de Blasios attention when he takes office, but with people of all ages being killed in traffic across the five boroughs nearly every single day, Vision Zero must remain a top priority," said Right of Way organizer Keegan Stephen in a statement, according to Gothamist.

De Blasios plan rests on a number of factors, which are laid out on his campaign website. Improving on the 291 people killed in the past year will likely require the city to redesign intersections and narrow wider streets that "encourage reckless passing and speeding." Sidewalks and medians will be made wider as well, and an expansion of so-called "slow zones," where the speed limit sits at a mere 20 miles per hour, will be expanded. Naturally, the NYPDs traffic enforcement officers will also crack down on speeders even harder. Mobile traffic cameras will also play a larger role, with de Blasio claiming that a reduction in speeding comes with such monitoring.

What are your thoughts on these plans? Does completely eliminating traffic deaths in one of the worlds largest cities even seem tenable in a 10-year timeframe, no matter how much is done to contain reckless driving and/or speeding? We want to hear from you in Comments.

Brazil: the country of carnivals, indescribable beauty adjacent to abject poverty, Ayrton Senna and old Volkswagen models. Only theyre not old â€" theyre new, theyre just based on old designs. The original Beetle continued production there long after it had been phased out elsewhere, but the original Kombi van has lasted much longer. That ends today, however, with the iconic VW Microbus ambling out of production on the last day of 2013.

VW kept making the van in Brazil with the original air-cooled 1.2-liter boxer four until 2005, after which the original design was updated with a 1.4-liter water-cooled engine. Today, however, it ultimately falls prey to safety regulations that mandate that all vehicles â€" no matter how old their design â€" need to have airbags and ABS, forcing Volkswagen do Brasil to cease production of the Microbus after a 56-year production run. But the latest word is that the Kombi (as its presently known) could get a stay of execution â€" or at least a resurrection in short order.

According to reports, the Brazilian government is looking into granting the Type 2 Microbus an exemption from said safety regulations, reasoning that the van was designed long before the advent of airbags and ABS. If the measure goes through, the Kombi Last Edition (pictured above) could prove not to be the last at all. So what do you think, should the Microbus get an exemption from Brazilian safety regulations for nostalgias sake? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and Mercedes Vice President of Sales Dietmar Exler broke ground on the huge, new facility that was formerly the site of a Boeing 717 factory. As you can see from the photo on the right, theyre both pretty happy about it.

The new campus will be split into two buildings that will sit on 52.2 acres of land across the street from the Long Beach Airport. The venue will open in the first quarter of 2015.

The new location combines Mercedes USAs Vehicle Preparation Center, which inspects and distributes vehicles to dealers when they arrive in the US, the Western Region Office, which does dealer sales support, and the Learning and Performance Office for employee training.

Autoblog reached out to Mercedes to learn more about its plans for the new campus. We will update this story, when and if we hear back. Until then, scroll down to read the full announcement below.

Ask the average consumer â€" at least, those who follow the goings-on in the automotive industry â€" which carmaker theyd most closely associate Microsoft, and the answer youd most likely get would be Ford. The Blue Oval automaker, after all, was at the forefront of bringing Microsoft technology into cars with its pioneering Sync system, and, though reality didnt turn out as such, Fords CEO was recently touted as a potential future head of the Redmond-based software giant. But that relationship, according to the latest reports, could be coming to an end.

Alan Mullaly kiboshed the idea of leaving Dearborn for Redmond, but more importantly Ford is tipped to be ditching Microsoft in developing its next-generation Sync system. In its place, Ford is expected to partner with BlackBerrys QNX division.

Now, before you go balking "BlackBerry?! But theyre finished!" consider that QNX is (or at least was) an independent entity that Research In Motion (as BlackBerrys Ontario-based parent company was then known) just happened to have bought back in 2010. QNX provides control systems to everything from nuclear power plants and UAVs to automakers like Audi, BMW and Porsche.

Ford is apparently keen to improve its in-car technology â€" an increasingly vital factor for new car buyers â€" while cutting Microsoft and its comparatively large licensing fees out of the equation.

A few more Ford trucks will be built in the US in the near future with news that production of the F-650 and F-750 medium-duty trucks will move from Mexico to Fords Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, OH. Ford hasnt confirmed a precise timeline for the move, but The Detroit News claims the Blue Oval will make the shift later this year or in early 2015.

As Ford spokesperson Mike Levine reminded us, back in 2011, Ford announced in an investor release that it would shift production "after the [Ohio] plant stops current production of the Ford E-Series vans." According to that release, the Ohio factory will also receive $128 million in upgrades to build the new trucks, plus the F53 motorhome chassis and F59 commercial chassis.

The trucks are currently built in Escobedo, Mexico, as part of a joint venture with Navistar International. The Kansas City Assembly Plant in Kansas City, MO will begin building the new Transit van. The shift is part of Fords long-term plan to move more commercial vehicle production to the US because it, "will be able to streamline and strengthen the engineering and manufacturing of our next-generation medium-duty trucks," said then-Ford President Mark Fields in the 2011 release. According to The Detroit News, Ford will issue a more detailed release about the shift in production on February 28.

This is the New Midsize Coupe in the metal, and as a demonstrator of the versatility of the Modular Transverse Matrix platforms, Volkswagen says its what "customers all over the world can look forward to over the next few years." Wider than a Passat, shorter and lower than a Jetta and weighing less than a Jetta, these are the cues a sport sedan on the MQB-B platform could wear.

VW designers didnt take any shortcuts with the detailing, the every corner of the sedan meant to reinforce its presence and draw the eye in. At the front of that long bonnet is a three-bar grilled, with the top bar painted high-gloss black to make the car look lower, the lower two bars finished in chrome look at the front and brushed aluminum in back. They front a collection of finned, ornamental modules, the design reaching all the way into the LED headlights where the finned modules act as cooling vanes for the headlights. The motif is recreated in the lower intakes as well.

From the side you get a full view of the long hood and short decklid, set off by a lower sill in metal. The Dragon Red paint is matched in the 20-inch wheels, with spokes carrying a touch of the body color, and their black inner surfaces complementing the high-gloss black roof panel. In back, 3D LED taillights have aluminum accents, sitting high above twin exhaust pipes split by a high-gloss black diffuser.

The 217-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo will scoot the New Midsize Coupe to 62 miles per hour in 6.5 seconds, and with the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission VW says a driver can get fuel economy of 6.4 liters per 100 kilometers, about 37 mpg.

Were told there wont be any sacrifice in the cabin for that, with "ample space for five," cargo capacity of 500 liters, trim in Silk and Ebony Black with Dragon Red piping, Alcantara on the headliner and pillars, and controls from the Golf (which rides on the MQB-A platform).

Theres a press release below with more details. We wouldnt mind being a part of the world that gets a shot at this, should VW make it...

Sundays incident between a black Land Rover Range Rover Sport and a fleet of motorcycles in New York City has been a topic of conversation across the internet, particularly here at Autoblog, where you, our readers, have racked up over 175,000 views and over 600 comments - some of which were quite cross - as of this writing. When the story first surfaced, conflicting reports from outlets as varied as the Daily Mail and Fox News made it difficult to determine what was what. Now, though, theres becoming a common consensus of information, and we wanted to update you with what is known. Bear with us, theres a lot of info here.

33-year-old Alexian Lien was driving with his wife and two-year-old daughter in the familys Range Rover Sport when they encountered a group of motorcyclists on a loosely organized ride known as "Hollywood Stuntz." No one, police included, seem to be sure what happened before video started rolling, but when it did, we saw 28-year-old Christopher Cruz appear to brake-check the SUV, with Lien tapping the motorcycles rear wheel. This is where things begin to get murky.

Lien reportedly stopped after bumping Cruzs motorcycle, and according to New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, "They [the bikers] take their helmets and they start to dent his car, and apparently his tires are slashed with a knife." Fearing for his familys safety, Lien punched the gas, hitting three bikers â€" one of whom, contrary to yesterdays reports, was so seriously injured that if he survives, he may never walk again â€" and roaring off into the distance.

According to The New York Times, one of the bikers contradicted Commissioner Kellys report, saying, "No biker became aggressive with the driver after the incident." Allegedly, it wasnt until Lien took off that things turned violent.

Read the rest of the story and see the video below.

• Engine: 1.6 liter DOHC Inline 4
• Horsepower: 120hp
• Torque: 112 lb.-ft.
• Fuel Consumption: 29 MPG City/39 MPG Highway
• Price as Tested: $17,735
• Star Rating: 9 out of 10 Stars