Why Does Toyota Think that a Pink Crown Athlete Symbolizes its…Athletic Nature? [w/Videos]

Perhaps you can help us figure out what’s with the pink-colored 2013 Toyota Crown Athlete that was presented this week in Japan under the soothing sounds of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the night", since our knowledge of the Japanese language is limited to words like "Konnichiwa" and "Sayōnara" and the company doesn't allow access to its "Re-Born" website for visitors outside of Japan.

We looked up the available colors for the new Crown Athlete, and pink wasn't among the shades offered on the car's online configurator.

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Stand Your Ground, the Russian Pedestrian Edition

Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law, which gained national attention after the high profile shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, states:

"A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony."

We don't know if there's a similar law for pedestrians in Smolensk Oblast in Russia, but this man sure knows how to 'stand his ground' when drivers disregard the signs and don't slow down to let people cross the road. See what happened in the video that follows the break.

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Facelifted Ford Fiesta Van Gains Aston Martin-Esque Schnozzle

Joining the refreshed range of Fiesta hatchbacks in Europe is the facelifted, commercial version of the series aptly named the Fiesta Van, which is available to order now in Britain, with customer deliveries from early January 2013. Read more »

Toyota FJ Cruiser Jumps Sand Dune in Saudi Arabia, Lands Face First and Tumbles Down…

The good thing with hot deserts and sand dunes located near highways is that they're easily accessible by drivers feeling adventurous or who simply want to blow off some steam.

On the other hand, this also means that just about anyone driving an SUV or a crossover capable of going off-road can jump off the highway at any time and try whatever comes to mind without taking any precautions or acting in a sensible way.

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MT Tests the 2013 SRT Viper GTS to Find Out How Sharp its Fangs Are

When the third-generation Viper was launched back in April at the New York Auto Show, SRT boss Ralph Gilles had said that the company “simply would not let the performance icon of the Chrysler Group die.”

Love it or hate it, the Viper is undoubtedly an icon. Its two previous incarnations followed the same recipe: aggressive styling, a big-displacement V10 up front with huge torque driving the rear wheels and…that’s about it.

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Trolling a French Police Car in Paris with a Quadcopter Drone

While the debate on privacy rights and government power over the use of surveillance drones goes on, some talented folks from Team Black Sheep (TBS), which specializes in both filming equipment for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) as well as aerial video services, found some time to fool around in France while attending the LeWeb 2012 Conference.

What TBS did on a street just outside of Paris is fly a remote controlled quadrotor, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadcopter, equipped with a live-feed recording device.

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Guess What this BMW X6 is Hauling Up in the Snow

'Snowcat' is a generic term used for enclosed-cabin, fully tracked machinery that are made exclusively for use in snow (hence the name). They are employed not only on ski resorts, to prepare the trails, but also by military forces and other organizations.

As 4x4s have evolved in the past two decades from rugged, no-frill tools to civilized and luxurious vehicles that retain some degree of off-road capability, seeing one stuck in mud or snow is not uncommon these days – especially if the driver hasn’t fitted winter tires.

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Time-Lapse Video Shows Why Snow Can be Uncool

If you're one of those people who dream of a "White Christmas", then you're probably either too young to drive or you happen to live in an area that never sees snow, because if you do, you should know that those white flurries dropping from the sky may look cool, but most of the times, they're a great hassle. Read more »

Polish BMW Drifters Return with New Hoon Video

Just in time for the holiday season, the Polish crew from JBB, an acronym for Jazda Bardziej Bokiem that translates to "More Driving Sideways", has released a new video dedicated to the newly born daughter of one of their drift team's members.

To refresh your memory, JBB had impressed us last December with a short drift film featuring a custom BMW 3-Series E30 that was unleashed on a large truck lot.

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Uncle Jim's Rowdy Snow Mobile Causes a Mini Avalanche

Sometimes us humans think we can conquer mother nature with our mechanical contraptions, but that's clearly not the case.

A one Uncle Jim, and whom we assume to be his nephews, went out to play around in the snow with their rides. When the former tried to climb a slope, he seems to have triggered a mini avalanche that sent both the rider and his snowmobile rolling down the hill.

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Praga R1 is a 207HP, 592 kg Carbon Fiber Track-Day Special Made in Slovakia

A small company builds a racing car around an engine borrowed from an established manufacturer. This description could fit any number of carmakers, such as Ariel or Caterham. The thing is, most of them call the British Isles, not Slovakia, home.

Praga Racing is based in Orechová Potôň, a village in Southwest Slovakia with a population of less than 2,000. Don’t let this fool you, though, because the company is far more serious and said village is also the place where the Autodrom Slovakia Ring, a track built in 2009 that has hosted FIA World Touring and GT1 championship races, is located.

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One Ring to Crash Them All and Into Armco Bind Them: Watch 2012’s Nordschleife Accidents

There’s a very good reason why Jackie Stewart named the “old” Nürburgring the Green Hell and why Formula 1 doesn’t race there any more: it’s too bloody dangerous.

Still, the Nordschleife track hosts other race series up to this day and is the place where manufacturers hone their latest cars and advertise their lap times, while on certain dates, it is also open to the public. This means that anyone can pay the ticket and drive around the 20.8 km (12.9-mile) circuit.

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Oh, Kenny; Santa Claus' Bike Stunt Goes Terribly Wrong

The Christmas season for some, Holiday season for others, is a time to relax and perhaps have some extra fun, though; one should always remember his or her limits.

For example, take this group of motorcyclists, many of whom were dressed up in their Santa Claus costumes, fortunately, with their safety helmets on top of their heads.

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These Were the Web's 10 Most-Watched Auto Commercials of 2012

As you may have noticed, the Mayan calendar did not predict the end of the world, after all, as the Earth still keeps spinning – at least at the time of writing these lines...

What is coming to an end is the year and it's about time for some 2012 “best of” (and, probably, “worst”, too) lists.

We figured the world doesn’t need another “Car of the Year” award: it has more than enough already as it is and, as a matter of fact, it could do with less, not more.

So, how about something more interesting? Car manufacturers have always fought hard to get the customers’ attention. If anything, advertising companies have created some really interesting commercials this year.

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New Dealer-Made Peugeot 208 Rallye Edition Hits the Streets [w/Video]

It's been three months to the day (September 24, 2012) since Philippe Beaugé, head of the Peugeot dealership Clara Automobile in the French city of Le Mans, first shared with us pictures and details of a newly created edition of the 208 supermini named after and inspired by the famed Rallye models.

As a refreshed, the dealer-made Rallye is based on the 208 156 THP Feline model powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine churning out 154hp (156PS) while tipping the scales at a relatively low 1,090kg (2,403 lbs).

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New Kia Pro_Cee'd GT with 201HP 1.6-liter Turbo Driven!

If you've been monitoring the news in the automotive world lately, you will probably be aware of the fact that Kia is completing work on its first hot hatch to take on the likes of the VW Golf GTI – at least in theory – in Europe.

In addition to our own scoops, Kia has offered us teaser sketches and preliminary specifications on the GT variant of the five-door Cee'd and the three-door Pro_Cee'd.

As it turns out, though, Kia has done much more than that as we were tipped off about a video shot earlier this month in which a one Vadim Ovsiankin has not only filmed a prototype of the Pro_Cee'd GT inside and out, but he also took it for a spin on the road, where we see the sport hatch hitting speeds of up to 180km/h (112mph) on public roads.

Kia's two new GT models are powered by a new version of the brand's 1.6-litre GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) petrol engine fitted with a twin-scroll turbocharger and strengthened internal components. Maximum output is 204PS (201bhp), up 51 per cent over the non-turbo engine, with torque up 61 per cent to 265 Nm (195 lb/ft).

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Now That's One Lucky Son of a Gun – The Middle East Edition

When they're not practicing the illegal and reckless driving art of hagwalah, some motorists in the Middle East hone their skills in another and equally dangerous road sport, that of driving on two wheels.

While our readers have surely seen footage of Middle Eastern drivers tip their rides on their sides before, in this specific video, we witness one of the many, many things that can go wrong when amateurs perform these kind of stunts on public roads.

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Take a Ride in the Lamborghini Aventador LP760-4 Dragon Edition

There's no denying that the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is one hot and special supercar, but sometimes, that's not enough for certain owners who like to further personalize their ride's looks and make it even faster than what it already is.

As we were informed from supercar-spotter and YouTube channel owner Shmee150, who tipped us off about his latest find, Hussam Maatouk of the Luxury Signatures exclusive dealership in Qatar is one of those people.

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2013 Range Rover HSE Riding on Vossen's Concave 22-Inch Rims [w/Video]

The creative minds at Land Rover may have found a way to shave up to nearly 1,000 pounds (~450kg, depending on the engine and equipment grade) on the new 2013 Range Rover over the model it replaces, but the premium SUV continues to have a very large footprint and as such, there's no denying that it looks better with bigger wheels. Read more »

2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Gets All-Wheel Drive Option, C&D Gets an Exclusive First Look

The 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was officially revealed about a week ago and is clearly more than your typical middle-cycle facelift. Last time we checked, even though it sports a more aggressive face, the 2014MY has…18 engine options, at least in Europe, and none of them bears the AMG moniker.

But fear not, there’s going to be a new E63 AMG alongside the rest of the new E-Class range at the upcoming Detroit Motor Show. In fact, we’ve already snapped the new car doing the mandatory rounds in the Nordschleife a couple of months ago as well as a camouflage free model in Spain.

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