Th!nk Ox Concept Car All Electric, Mostly Recycled

How green can a car really get? What about one which features a lot of recycled materials as part of the design? That's the idea behind the Th!nk Ox concept car, unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva International Motor Show.

What makes the Th!nk Ox interesting as a concept is that 95% of the interior is made of recyclable materials. Those materials aren't specifically spelled out, but I have to imagine you won't grow a third eye while you are driving this car.

The Ox, built on an EV platform similar to other Th!nk EVs, is a fully electric, five seater passenger vehicle. Design touches include a solar panel on the roof to either keep the car cooled while turned off or perhaps power the sound system, an upright tailgate which tries to provide more luggage space, large interior glass surfaces and in-built computer screens to provide all necessary systems information.

The designers of this concept vehicle see it being capable of going 0-60 in under 8.5 seconds and having a maximum speed of under 85 MPH. Driving ranges are said to be around 125 miles combined highway and city summer driving and 155 miles for strict city touring. A sports version of the Ox is seen going even faster and further.

2010 Ford Mustang To Debut at LA Auto Show

Earlier today, when Ford announced plans to counter its largest ever quarterly loss, we also learned the 2010 Ford Mustang would be revealed to pumping bass and epileptic-unfriendly lights at the 2008 LA Auto Show in November. We know the car arrives in showrooms early next year, and what's a new car without the lasers and dry ice of an auto show unveiling? But why LA and not Detroit?

Our sources tell us the reason the Giugiaro concept-based 'Stang is coming to LA is partly due to the lucrative convertible market represented by sunny California, but also because it offers Ford the opportunity to become the star of the show.

Despite being located in the civilized world, LA is still eclipsed by Detroit's NAIAS, which sees a huge number of new models unveiled each year. By unveiling the Mustang in LA, Ford hopes to guarantee more coverage.

Surprise! Millionaires can still afford Lambos, profits rise

It seems that well-to-do individuals who grew up staring at Countach posters on their bedroom walls are still finding a way to fulfill their childhood fantasies. Both sales and profits are up at Lamborghini, with most of the increases coming from emerging markets, including the Middle East, China and Hong Kong. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann believes that the key to its recent sales successes is its policy of producing fewer vehicles than it believes it can sell, thereby keeping demand high. Winkelmann also noted that costs go down as production goes up, a further boon to increased profitability.

With Lambo's latest Gallardo LP560-4 about to hit its 114 dealerships, the second half of the year is already shaping up quite nicely. Ridiculously expensive options with high profit margins like $19,000 carbon-ceramic brakes are sure to help the bottom line too.

Chrysler offering even more incentives to close out July

The automotive sales sector is in a major state of flux as consumers continue to run from SUVs and pickup trucks into smaller, more fuel efficient cars. One manufacturer hit especially hard by this transition is Chrysler, a company that recently posted the worst fleet average fuel economy numbers of all major automakers in the U.S. due to its truck-heavy lineup. Still, the automaker has built up a large supply of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep utility vehicles that they have got to get off dealer lots somehow. To ease consumers into the fuel-thirsy utes, Chrysler has introduced new incentives of zero-percent financing for 72 months on the 2008 Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen and Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander.

While the lack of any financing charges will certainly impact the bottom line, it is nothing compared to the losses the automaker has been hit with over its past lease deals. In fact, truck and SUV residuals are so bad these days that Chrysler Financial has gone so far as to completely cut leasing out of its available portfolio starting August 1. The financing deals announced today are scheduled to continue through Thursday, July 31.

London 2008: Renaultsport Megane R26.R

While most of our recent hot hatch affection has been aimed at the Ford Focus RS, Renault brought its own racy three-door to the London Motor Show party, and now we're torn. Admittedly, the Focus RS is easily the more suitable day-to-day driver – it's got a full interior and air conditioning -- but the Renaultsport Megane R26.R has all the kit for a serious track-day assault. Hell, it even has two Rs in its name.

With the new Megane slated to appear at this year's Paris Motor Show, Renault wanted to give the current model a fitting send off. To that end, it took the existing Megane F1 Team R26, left the engine, gearbox and limited slip differential intact, modified the suspension and hacked off 271 pounds from its curb weight. The diet included the removal of the rear seats, passenger side airbag, climate control, fog lamps, headlight washers, rear windscreen wiper and the majority of the soundproofing material. In exchange, the R26.R received a carbon fiber hood, polycarbonate quarter and rear windows and a titanium exhaust.

Inside, the Renaultsport hatch makes the RS look positively pedestrian, with a set of carbon fiber Sabelt seats, six-point harnesses, leather and suede swathed steering wheel and gear knob, and an optional four-point roll cage. While output remains the same, at 230 hp and 229 lb.-ft. of torque, the stripped R26.R lapped the Nurburgring in 8:17 – a new lap record for a front wheel drive production car.

Only 450 examples will be made available when sales begin in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain this October. And unlike the Chevy Camaro, Renault released a video of the R.26R doing it's thing around the 'Ring... three seconds faster. Check it, along with the press release, below the fold.

No new MINIs for '08? Manufacturers tapped, dealers sold out

If you were planning on hitting one of the 82 U.S. MINI dealers to get your hands on a fuel-efficient Cooper or Clubman, it looks like you'll need to look at plan B. Skyrocketing fuel prices has lifted demand of the little British icons to the point that, with the except of pre-orders, all 2008 models are pretty much sold out. The MINI's cute looks and thrifty petrol-sipping discipline have made the retro hatch more attractive than ever. Year over year sales increases of 39%, 52%, and 24% from April-June have all but wiped clean the MINI's already tight inventory.

Although sales really picked up in April, the MINI has been on fire all year, as the 26,400 MINIs sold in the first half of 2008 represents a 33.6% increase over the same sales period in 2007. And thanks to the MINI's already tight world-wide demand, the BMW-owned automaker can only up US shipments by 2-3k units for the rest of the year.

Team MINI wants to keep its new-found fortune coming, too, as it plans to increase its dealer count to 95 stores by 2011. The British automaker will also introduce a diesel MINI once it can pass emissions in all 50 states.

Chevrolet Camaro SS laps the 'Ring in... 8:20

In this automotive day and age, any vehicle that has even a trace amount of performance in its DNA has to make the rounds around the Nurburgring. The new Chevy Camaro SS isn't exempt. So after GM revealed the Camaro on Monday, one of the scribes at InsideLine ran up to an engineer to find out what kind of time the Camaro put down at the Nordschleife. According to Doug Houlihan, GM's chief engineer for global rear-wheel-drive vehicles, the Camaro SS ran the 'Ring in 8:20.

To put that into perspective, the recently released 2008 Cobalt SS did the deed in 8:22, along with the BMW E46 M3 and the last generation BMW M Coupe, followed by the Lotus Exige S and Porsche Cayman S at 8:25.

Ed Welburn, GM'S veep of global design, concedes that the Camaro's shape is merely adequate from an aerodynamic standpoint, with a coefficient of drag on the SS of 0.35 and on the LS/LT models of 0.36 – largely a result of the recessed headlamps and full-width grille.

Houlihan went on to say that their time at the 'Ring allowed them to dial in the steering response and suspension settings, and that the StabiliTrak traction control system on the Camaro will be the best GM can offer. Settings on the SS model allow drivers to choose between track and performance modes, along with completely disabling the system. A launch control feature will also be available on the