Mike Hanlon

The first of the major vehicle announcements from the 64th Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA aka Frankfurt Motor Show) has broken cover with Mazda announcing that it will debut an all-new CX-5 crossover SUV. The new beastie will be the first to fully adopt Mazda's SKYACTIV technology and to be styled with the company's latest "KODO - Soul of Motion" design theme first seen in the SHINARI and MINAGI concept cars. Read More

We've written quite a bit about the first virtual-to-real racer, Lucas Ordonez, and his continuing exploits as a successful professional racing driver. The winner of the first Playstation Nissan GT Academy in 2008, Lucas is now racking up first class results in the incredibly competitive ILMC series, finishing second in class in the Le Mans 24 hour last month. Now the legitimacy of the entire experiment has gained further credibility with the immediate success of the second Academy (2010) winner Jordan Tresson. Competing in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Jordan finished fourth at Monza in his first outing in the series and last Sunday, the RJN Motorsport GT4-class Nismo Nissan 370Z he shared with Alex Buncombe and Chris Ward won its class at the 24 hour race at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium's Ardennes region. The third (2011) GT academy winners are also shaping up as international class too. Read More

Luanda in Angola, Libreville in Gabon and N’Djamena in Chad are the most expensive extreme hardship locations in the world and thanks to the marketplace volatility which results from local inflation, political instability, currency fluctuations and natural disasters, Tokyo has consolidated its title as the most expensive of the recognized cities of the world in which to live. Read More

Estonian automotive producer DARTZ is best known for producing the world's most expensive US$1 million bulletproof Kombat T98 and Prombron SUVs and more recently for producing a concept car lined in whale penis leather. Now it has announced a 2000 bhp armored Sportback, designed for pulling yachts. With a 2000 bhp powerplant, it will be the world's most powerful production car. It will also be frightfully expensive, but the owner won't be worried every time a motorcycle pulls alongside at the traffic lights. Read More

The ingenious Cargoshell shipping container concept is about to be tested for ISO certification, finally enabling deployment. The composite Cargoshell is both light and collapsible. Though containerisation has streamlined global trade, it remains inefficient. The current steel containers use the same space whether they are empty or full, and waste valuable resources globally being transported and stored empty. A Cargoshell can be broken down by one person in 30 minutes, to a quarter of its original volume. Read More

The compact S.U.V. class looks set for some serious competition over the coming 12 months when a completely redesigned Honda CR-V will continue to sell against Toyota's RAV4 and Volkswagen's Tiguan. Plus Mazda's CX-5, which is expected to be very similar to Minagi and packed with the first comprehensive SkyActiv efficiency technologies, will join the ranks. Honda is the runaway leader in the segment and this update is a clear signal of its intention to stay there. The "Walter Mitty" lives we all lead is exemplified by the compact S.U.V. segment, where more than 95 percent of the vehicles sold never venture offroad. Read More

The Quail Lodge sale held during Pebble Beach Car Week in August each year, always attracts extraordinary automobiles, and this year, the most talked about lot at the auction is one of the most delightfully eccentric for many a year. It is a handmade 1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom, commissioned by the Maharaja of Kotah to be specifically built for tiger hunting. The eight liter Roller has spotlights for night hunting, a mounted Howdah gun (double-barrel shotgun in pistol form), a rifle stand in the rear passenger compartment, a mountable Lantaka cannon, and a machine gun mounted on an attached, matching trailer. Just the thing for peak hour! Read More

Owning one's own yacht must surely be one of man's greatest indulgences. The ability to take your own tailored environment anywhere you want. Yacht Island Design creates tailored environment like no other. Following on from its "Streets of Monaco" design is the "Tropical Island Paradise", a 90 metre island with a top speed of 15 knots. The main deck is a beach “cove” of cabanas surrounding a massive ocean view swimming pool, with a waterfall falling nearby from the volcano. A bar area, outdoor dining, there's a private spa and four VIP suites for friends, all with their own private balcony. Great image gallery. Read More

Metal Storm is to begin working with TASER on less-than-lethal ammunition for the its aptly-named MAUL rapid-fire 12-gauge launcher. The tiny 800 gram MAUL can be operated independently from its own shoulder stock, fitted as an accessory to an assault rifle (pictured), or used with a pistol grip. A five round reload takes two seconds and each bullet incapacitates those it hits with the same Neuro Muscular effect of a handheld TASER. Read More