We obsessively cover the auto industry

"Stock" is a relative term. Stock cars, for example, like those raced in NASCAR, are anything but showroom stock. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, "stock" is just the starting point when ordering a new Rolls-Royce. The high-end marque offers its customers a virtually endless array of personalization options, and to drive that point, home Rolls-Royce is showcasing the show car seen here at this week's Beijing Motor Show.

Called the Six Senses concept, this specially equipped Ghost is designed to stimulate each of the five senses – sight, sound, scent, taste and touch – and proffers the singular luxury of a Rolls-Royce as the sixth sense. Sure beats seeing dead people.

The concept is painted in pearlescent Carrara White, with unique forged alloys and an interior decked out in walnut burr veneer, deep-pile lambswool carpeting (even in the trunk), leather headliner with panoramic sunroof, an upgraded sound system and champagne cooler. Check it out in the gallery above and follow the jump for the details in the press release.

Yes, Autoblog Canada had an identical Black Series at the dyno yesterday but swear, this wasn't us!!!

The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series is a whole lotta car. Not only is the name a mouthful, but the 510-horsepower German rocket can be a handful too, well, in the wrong hands. This wouldn't be the first time we've seen techs or valets getting their kicks behind the wheel of a vehicle that doesn't belong to them, but it seems some employees at one Ottawa-area dealer didn't get the memo.

Our tipster claims that a couple rogue techs at a dealership called Star Motors (formerly Carling Motors) decided to take out one of the 30 existing Black Series in Canada for a joyride. While we agree that some test drives of performance cars should be spirited to find performance-related problems, it's pretty clear these guys just wanted some kicks behind the wheel of $115,000 Autobahn assassin.

For over 8:00 minutes they negotiate the streets of Ottawa near the Hunt Club Road dealership, breaking all kinds of laws, risking property and injury in the process. The police would gladly impound this Black Series for some of these speeds, and MB enthusiasts would gladly slap these guys in the face for redlining the motor for so long.

Why any tech would post this on YouTube is beyond us, as they're are only asking to be fired. The Internets has moved in for some e-justice and MBWorld.com has been set ablaze with nasty comments on the matter. Not only did they identify the location of the dealership, they have also sent the video, the original of which was removed from YouTube but then re-uploaded by a forum member, to Mercedes-Benz Canada HQ and are hard at work trying to find the possible owner to show him what's been done to his car pre-delivery.

Check out the video with NSFW language after the jump.

We know at Autoblog Canada that the relationship between sleek new cars and beautiful models is as old as your Dad's dinner table jokes. Whether it is a poorly executed, graphic display of skin at a local car show or an upscale approach at the world's leading car shows with classy runway models, it is a challenge to separate the two. And marketers know that even shameless approaches do get clicks despite not winning any advertizing awards in the process.

Last week we brought you an article that drew attention to four new viral videos that Scion had released. The videos were supposed to display all kinds of everyday people enjoying the ride from the front and back seat of their new micro compact, the iQ. While the collection of videos seemed corny from start to finish, it appears more than a few people took issue with one of the videos. The video entitled "Babes'n'Donuts" was pulled from their YouTube site and is now listed as private but Scion has not commented on why.

We're going to wager a guess and say images like the one above could be construed as overtly sexual. While Scion might have just been attempting to have some fun in the sun here (they are California-based after all) the implications might be too much even though another video after the jump also features shirtless male models covered in milk.

You be the judge on the videos after the jump.

Time to party like it's 1999... well for prices at the pump anyway. A gas promotion put on in Toronto had motorists lined up over a kilometre deep to get a taste of some $0.50 / litre gasoline. And when gas is currently $1.35 per litre on average in the Greater Toronto Area, a promotion like this really spread like wildfire.

The TravelNetwork.com is at it again by offering motorists of major Canadian cities limited time offers of massive discounts for the go-go juice. The have had ¢50 off promotions before in Vancouver and Toronto but this price had everyone looking to save mega bucks in the downtown area. The line-up started forming at 6:00am in front of the 759 Eastern Avenue location just east of the downtown core. By 7:00am police moved in to curb the traffic and tempers as motorists grew tired of waiting for the station to open. The promotion has just ended at 11:00 and the FlightNetwork.com pumped out 10,000 litres of regular gas.

We're sure everyone who got a tank was thrilled with the deal but when you do the math, was it worth the wait?

News Source: FlightNetwork.com

It happens so often in the winter, we think nothing of it. When the white stuff falls, people forget about the lack of traction and do moves that they should only do on dry pavement. Case in point, here in Canada the first snowfall results in thousands of avoidable accidents across the country. Then the masses wake up, drive less aggressive and maybe even pony up for some snow tires and they taper off over the winter.

And then there are times that you just shouldn't attempt certain maneuvers like passing on a partially snowy highway. Stay in the dry tracks, regardless of who (or what) is in front of you. But what this driver did not only was a bad move but they had no chance of making this work. Why? Well as you can see they accelerated to pass and drove on the loose strips of snow... that will never work because it is too unstable and well, things get ugly from there.

The dash cam on this Eastern European driver's car captures one wild ride for what appears to be a SEAT model hatchback. Regardless, we hope they are okay and trust that lessons are learned on both sides of the monitor after watching the video.

We're not sure if this is some kind of record but it has to be pretty close. Although there is no prize for this one, aside from bragging rights, a California woman is in pretty deep after scoring three speeding tickets in only one hour while driving in Yuba County just north or Sacramento.

After being nabbed once for speeding by Central Valley Police, the female motorist was caught yet again driving at a high rate of speed along I70. After clocking in at triple digit speeds, Lynne Cahill-Gomez was pulled over a third time all the while using the same excuse. Cahill-Gomez claimed she was rushing home to help her sick mother and time was of the essence. While police were unable to determine if this was true, they decided she wasn't in the right frame of mind for operating a motor vehicle and decided to arrest her on the spot.

She has been charged with three counts of speeding one as fast as 106 mph (170 km/h) and stuck with about US$400 in fines. Apparently her mother had fallen on a bad knee but the police maintain that ambulances are there for a reason.

Video link available here: www.aol.com/video/full-speed-ahead-woman-gets-3-speeding-tickets-in-1-hour-032712/517317283/

Video Source: CBS via AOL Video

As Editors we certainly have a lot to say about all kinds of subjects. Some readers may agree with us and some well, might send us hate mail. However, when Editors are asked to actually perform some sort of task rather than just run their mouth about topics, the chatter stops and there is no keyboard to hide behind. The boys at Quaker State put together an interesting event pitting editor against editor in an area not every wordsmith is familiar with, building an engine.

And not just any engine but a GM Racing 358 cubic inch (5.9 L) R07 motor used in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. On the plus side, this was fairly simple motor but on the more complex side, the event was timed in front of a crowd. After the dust settled, the motors would have to be fired up and run flawlessly for a period of one minute. Oh and no power tools either, just plenty of wrenching madness to piece the motors back together.

Find out how the challenge unfolded and who won bragging rights after the jump.

We've all been there. Nailing a pothole unexpectedly can do a load of damage and cause of control to your car. And it is just this type of wacky winter we have had that causes the problems. The freeze-thaw cycles were plentiful and that allows water to get into cracks, expand when frozen and cause gaping holes in the crumbling Canadian infrastructure from coast-to-coast.

It can happen to anyone at anytime and sometimes there is absolutely no way to get around it if there is traffic. It is either that or hit a car, guardrail or mount the sidewalk in order to avoid the problem, which obviously you have carry on straight and take the beating. Even yours truly had some serious damage done to wheels, tires and suspension on a BMW from a massive 8-inch deep pothole on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. Well, take it from experience, the City will likely not honour your claim, nor will the contractors or sub-contractors they will just keep telling you to go though insurance. But Montreal ad agency Taxi has come up with an ingenious way to avoid the problem that plagues Canadians.

Montreal commuters were shocked to see this red Chevrolet sedan in what appeared to be a massive sinkhole. While that many be nothing to outrageous in Montreal, if cause massive gridlock and went viral as every motorist and their mother thought they had a breaking news story. No story here, just a fantastic PR stunt for a pothole locator app called Pothole Season. Available for iPhone, the app allows users to view what potholes are on their route and even mark down news ones. Potholes can have descriptions matched to them and are viewable in either overhead maps or Google Street View.

Check out the video after the jump and the gallery of potholes currently entered across the country. Montreal FTW!

When the M.I.A Bad Girls video debuted last month, it had the enthusiast community blowing up with excitement. Fans of drifting and stunting were in awe that a fairly underground car scene was now centre stage thanks to the female hiphop artist from the U.K. While the majority of the stunt vehicles were older BMWs, a Merc and an Alpha Romeo also popped up doing stunts they were never designed to perform.

Now we have a mini-doc surface showcasing the inspiration behind this music video featuring all kinds of huge risks and extreme danger. The doc starts off slow so you might want to skip to 1:30 if you don't have all kinds of time on hand. But we get to see the drift team lineup, the drivers, the outtakes along with the elaborate rigging and chase cars built to capture it all. We can now confirm there was no CG in the making of the video but we also didn't see all the safety rigging for the scene with M.I.A. filing her nails on top of an E36 BMW two-wheelin' it.

If you want to know how they did it and hear about the fascination M.I.A. has with cars as well as Arab drifting and stunting, this is a must watch. And heck, if you just want some crazy videos from their research including a pair of stunters who take the tires off an SUV on two wheels and start smoking the Sheesha pipe, hit the jump now.

Ahh the car scene. It can be sophisticated and posh like SoCal's Cars'n'Coffee or wild and untamed like TX2K12. Well, actually the annual meet held in Texas used to be a tight-knit gathering of Supras back in 2000 but other makes started showing up to battle them up the 1320. Over the years, it became more and more of a spectacle attracting all kinds of people, platforms and a whole lot of trouble. 2012 was certainly no exception.

What do you get when you mix horsepower with testosterone and a dose of bad judgement? In the case of the videos we have here, one near accident, one near fight, one arrest and a crowd a few shots short of a full scale riot. In one video we see a Miata driver showing off for his girl by popping the clutch in his 4-banger. If that isn't weak in itself, he did it surrounded by people and almost veers into a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera! Hilarity ensues.

But the lunacy doesn't stop there as one Mustang driver decides to light 'em up for the crowd. The crowd enjoys the display, the State troopers standing right beside him, not so much. They yank the door open and arrest him on the spot. As he is tossed in the back of the cruiser, the crowd closes in, starts hurling expletives and garbage too. As the car was towed away, things thankfully settled down.

After dark, we see on YouTube things got even more nuts as triple digit highway runs broke out and one Dodge SRT-4 even rolled over. Click past the jump to see the insanity.

If you didn't catch last weekend's Red Bull Crashed Ice event well don't sweat it. Why? Well because we have a couple solid videos from the event plus we covered it as well. Although not a car event, we got a chance to roll with Mini Canada in a brand new 2012 Mini Coupe JCW to go check out the action. That's right all the lightness and agility with JCW tweaks to get your pulse racing for the trip up to Quebec City, Quebec.

Back on topic, what we have here is a video of some contestants horsing around behind a Mini Countryman S All-4. And no not just skating around it but hanging on to a tethered rope like water skiing, just without the er, water... liquid kind anyway. We see on the vid a few stunts and a few spills with loads of surefooted drifting from the largest member of the Mini family.

Looks like all involved had some good times and be sure to check out the video of the event itself, which Mini sponsored. No Mini's were used in the making of this video but it sure looked like quite the spectacle and we tip our hats to one of our favourite racing and extreme sports sponsors, Red Bull who help make it all happen. Hit the jump!

The Nissan GT-R is no joke. Sure other forums poked fun at its portly weight and tendency to grenade trannies after 100 or so launches but its still spooky fast. Want proof? Auto Moto Sport (AMS) from Chicago has taken the R35 platform to new heights (or lows if you consider ETs) in terms of performance numbers and raw twin turbo thrust. Their latest feat is just another in the rapid progression they have developed with their latest iteration, the Alpha Omega GT-R.

At Lonestar Motorsports Park in Texas, the AMS crew trailered their beast down from Chicago to make a statement. And a statement, they made! The Alpha Omega revved up squatted down and peel its way up the quarter mile for a new world record. The car ran 8.63 @ 172.15 MPH and was all over the map meaning that their 1,602 whp car (with 1,152 lb-ft) is going to need way more traction in the future. The car was equipped with a street legal drag radial and was a full weight, full interior car meaning if you have the funds, AMS will make one for you to drive to work and back.

Click past the jump and buckle up for a couple of videos that will have your eyes (and ears) craving for more of this insane Nissan. Take note of the debris near end of the video when an intercooler pipe pops off, the front bumper gets dislodged and smashed to bits.

Never heard of Megaspeed? Well that is OK because neither had we until a few months back. Megaspeed 2012 is the first show under the new name that has risen from the ashes of the Performance World show. Performance World had been around for decades and though some drastic changes is now under new management and a fresh new name... Megaspeed.

Performance World had always been billed as a massive 3-day event making it Canada's largest custom car and truck show. Held at the International Centre, the event was always on the second weekend of March making it the official kick-off to the season as the snow began to melt. Building off that same format, space, show cars and entertainment fans were used to, Megaspeed still pulled in solid crowds to see the cars, meet Henry Winkler (AKA the Fonz) and see what all the hype was about.

Traditionally, the show has been focused on hot rods and muscle cars but in recent years has added tuner cars and exotics. The headliners are prominently displayed in the main hall and come from all over the US and Canada after being hand-picked by show organizers. Yeah sure there was lots to talk about but a couple domestics that caught our eye were the Spade Creations '64 Impala droptop and the 1989 Fox Body Stang from Dennis Walker who stuffed a Chevy motor inside. Wait, what? Yes, Walker sleeved a blown LSX427 crate motor in there and put down almost 1100rwhp but has been an unpopular guy ever since. The hotrod contingent was also alive and well including celebrity contractor Mike Holmes who was getting a pinstriping job on-site!

On the import and exotics side. The Titan twin turbo Lambo definitely got our attention and although not as clean as the Underground Motorsports kit, it still makes 750hp for a decent price. The police interceptor-themed Murcielago definitely turned heads but it was merely an appearance package unlike the crazy triple rotor RX-7 built by Sean Ali that had us drooling.

We're thrilled that Megaspeed went off smooth but even happier it is now over. Why? Well, because that means Spring is here and it is time to stop procrastinating and get your summer ride back on the road... giddyup!

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Derek Bartolo / AOL

Baja racing is serious business, like the internets. And just like the internets, you often experience the unexpected and are not prepared to get out of danger. At a recent Baja race in Mexico, a pack of off-road trucks were soaring over a table-top jump to the delight of the crowd. But it turned out that the masses were a tad too close to the action and almost paid the ultimate price.

At 0:12 you can see the last truck goes off the jump sideways and starts barrel-rolling to the right. At the point of no recovery, the truck crashes though the dirt barrier and starts careening up the second embankment towards fans, tents and other parked vehicles. While it appears everyone got out of the way, it could have ended really bad especially for the hero just chillin' in front of his Jeep Cherokee. The guy just kinda does some karate kid crane kick to get out of the way like it ain't no thang!

Click past the jump to see the video that had us on the edge of our seats.