On this day in 1967, John Lennon's Rolls-Royce Phantom Limousine received a repaint that shocked the world - in good ways and bad.

The car started out as a Phantom, serial number 5VD73, painted in Valentine Black. However, even in this state, this wasn't any old Phantom (as if one could say that about a Rolls). This was John Lennon's phantom. He had the rear seat modified to convert to a double bed, a custom interior, a Sony television, phone, and even a refrigerator. Being a rock star, he also had a turntable and loudspeaker system installed. This is especially impressive considering it was done in the 60s.

The Beatles would use the car for their various doings, but it wasn't long until Lennon probably got bored of the drab black paint. He needed something more suited to his own flamboyant lifestyle. Inspired by an old gypsy's wagon he had purchased for his garden, Lennon decided a bright yellow finish with all sorts of colourful flowery patterns is what the car needed.

Read more after the jump.

On this day in 1894, Elwood Haynes, the inventor of stainless steel, joins with Elmer and Edgar Apperson to found the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company. Chances are, this company will not sound familiar to you, but if you own or have owned a car in the past 30 years or so, Haynes' legacy will be familiar. We'll get to that in a minute.

Elwood Haynes' interest in cars began after the 1893 Chicago World's Fair where he encountered a one-horsepower engine. Overcome by fascination, Haynes ordered one and set it up in his kitchen. After some cranking, the engine started and chaos ensued. According to Haynes, it "ran with such speed and vibration that it pulled itself from its attachments to the floor."

Haynes made an agreement with Edgar Apperson to let him work in an Apperson owned machine shop where he and the Appersons eventually built what he advertised as "America's first car." Haynes and the brothers formed a partnership and began work on a car called the Pioneer II. It was set to compete in the Times-Herald race, the first car race in America. Damage from an earlier accident prevented entry.

Keep reading after the jump.

There's something about a car chase that just draws people into a movie, whether they're car fans or not. The amount of careful orchestration chases require means there isn't much margin for error because...well...cars crash.

Wired spoke with Hollywood stunt driver and stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Drive) to find out what he, as a professional in the business, thinks the best on screen chases were.

Click through the gallery to see his picks, and if you have any favourite scenes, post them in the comments below!

News Source: Wired

On this day in 1956, a French Grand Prix driver became the oldest person to ever compete and finish in the sport at the ripe age of 55. That driver was Louis Chiron.

Chiron was born in 1899 in Monaco where as a young boy, he became smitten by the latest craze - the automobile. After serving as an artilleryman in the first World War, Chiron eventually began a driving career by racing for a man named Ettore Bugatti, whose legacy you are probably quite familiar with.

Over the course of his life, Chiron would race Ferraris, Daimlers, Alfa-Romeos, Lancias and of course Bugattis. After the second World War broke out, Chiron was again enlisted in active service. We can't imagine fighting in both world wars is in any way easy, but Chiron's love for racing persevered over the course of both wars.

After the war, Chiron and other pre-war drivers struggled to re-emerge on the racing scene, but they didn't find it easy. They were just too old fashioned. Chiron lost one of his best friends in a practice run when a car rolled over. The younger drivers of the time all wore helmets, but in Chiron's time, helmets weren't a staple.

The 1956 Monaco Grand Prix would be the stage of one of Chiron's most impressive feats. Here, as a 55-year-old man, Chiron would drive his Lancia hard and finish in 6th place, becoming the oldest driver to land such a feat. Although Chiron continued racing for the next five years, he didn't meet much success.

His last Grand Prix took place at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix where he unfortunately did not qualify. Chiron retired in Monaco and died there in 1979.

More after the jump.

As Canadians, we incorporate some degree of British culture into our own. Whether that's food, drink or music, chances are we all have at least a little bit of Brit in us. Another aspect of their culture we were happy to adopt were their cars.

One Vancouver based dealership, Fred Deeley Motors (pictured above) was the province's main distributor for the Austin company. They started in 1932, selling cars such as the Austin 7 compact and the Austin 18. These were poor choices in BC's terrain and shifting weather conditions and thus, sales suffered.

Despite this however, Fred Deeley Motors wanted to continue selling Austins. They managed to convince Austin to build a left hand drive model of their upcoming vehicle, the Austin Devon A40. The A40 featured a 1.8 litre 4-cylinder engine and was well equipped for the time.

Read more after the jump.

On this day, 53 years ago, one of Ford's earliest successes almost didn't make it into inception...with the name "Falcon." Chrysler had been working on a concept, also called the Falcon, two years earlier, but unbeknownst to them, Ford had requested and registered the Falcon name before Chrysler.

One account says Chrysler, in a last minute scramble, held a contest with its employees to determine a new name for their car and they ended up with the Plymouth Valiant. Another account says "Valiant" was the result picked from a survey of over 2,000 owners from 15 cities.

Ford's Falcon was a hot commodity for the company, outselling other compact vehicles from the likes of GM and Chrysler. It saw production the States, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Chile and our very own Oakville, Ontario.

Ford made several other cars based on the Falcon platform, including a very special Canadian market only variant of the Falcon called the Frontenac. The Frontenac was pretty much the same as a standard Falcon, but it sported some unique trim including a unique grille and red maple leafs on the wheels. Sales were strong, but it was only made for a single year.

More of Ford's history after the jump.

Yes, you read that right. Up for sale in it's home country, you can buy this autobahn storming Bavarian sports sedan with absolutely no kilometers on the clock and no registration. The ad, found on Car and Classic doesn't give much details about the M5 but it suggests that this may have been a show car on a German BMW dealership's floor.

The E34 M5 is a favourite among BMW enthusiasts. It is the last of the hand built M5's before BMW started producing them on the same line as the standard 5-series. The engine, a 3.5 litre straight six (or perhaps a 3.8L depending on this car's build date), was also hand built by the M GmbH crew.

Sounds great, right? More, including how much this will cost you, after the jump.

They were the little economy brand that could. For that matter, they still do. The Depth of Speed series kicks off it's second season with the story of one man's obsession with the Japanese marque.

Simply titled "My Church," Josh Clason's latest entry takes you through Allen Anderson's love affair and journey with his Datsun 510s (or Bluebird, or 1600).

The beautifully shot video can be seen after the jump. It's worth checking out!

It's something most of us are taught as kids - to always check both directions before crossing the road. One pedestrian, perhaps in a hurry, forgot this rather important rule and ended up on the asphalt.

Check after the jump to see the full video.

Over half a century ago on this day in 1958, one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history made their first appearance in the sport. Monaco, France was the setting where Team Lotus, the motorsport division of the then six-year-old brainchild of Colin Chapman (Lotus), made their debut into single-seat racing after dominating in Le Mans in 1957.

Team Lotus' drivers, Cliff Allison and Graham Hill, drove the well engineered, but ultimately unsuccessful 2.2 litre Lotus Type 12 which also saw action in Formula 2. The car was designed with the qualities Lotus are known for - low weight and high power. Despite it all however, the Type 12 was always overshadowed by the mid-engined Cooper race cars of the time.

That year was a victory for one Maurice Trintignant who took first place driving a Cooper. Allison finished in sixth place, 13 laps behind, while Hill ended up in 26th. Chapman was not dissuaded. He used what he learned in defeat and ended up with the Lotus Type 18 which Stirling Cooper would drive to victory two years later.

Check after the jump for more.

There's a reason why pretty much every driver's handbook in the world prohibits you from crossing on solid lines. One throttle-happy biker in Russia seemed to forget why and he faced the unfortunate consequences. You can probably guess what happens. The biker seems to be okay at least!

According to Transport Canada, motorcycle accidents have been steadily increasing since 1997, with speed related collisions accounting for the majority of cases. They say in 90 per cent of the cases, the motorcyclist injured or killed in a speed related accident was at fault.

In this instance, it could be a case of the biker twisting the throttle without seeing the car's indicator, the car simply not seeing the small bike, or even a combination of both.

Check the jump for the full video.