World's oldest operational car to be auctioned in October

LONDON: It isn't quite a car, but this steam powered 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos runabout is claimed to be the oldest running motorized vehicle in existence. The 127 year old De Dion can reach 38 MPH thanks to it's twin compound steam engines which need a tank of water every twenty miles.

Amazingly, this runabout has only had four owners since 1884. If all goes according to plan, this piece of history will find a fifth owner at RM Auction's annual Vintage Motorcars of Hershey auction on October 7. Pre-sale estimates have the De Dion selling somewhere in the $2-$2.5 million range.

Merdad's tuned McLaren MP4-12C to be called MehRon GT

Normally our response to something called a Merdad Mehron GT would be "The what what?" Having seen it, however, our response is: "That's hot." The British tuning firm that normally occupies itself turning Porsche Cayennes into hot, swollen messes has looked homeward

and out of nowhere done a bang-up job with the McLaren MP4-12C. As impressive as McLaren's offering is out of the box, to our eye, Merdad has made it better.

It has done so with a body kit that beefs up the svelte lines of the standard car. Up front is a new splitter with cues from the Ferrari 360 and GT by Citroën. Along the sides, gone are the twin gills, replaced by a single, massive vent that elegantly separates a fine front form flowing into a meaty business end. In back are new vents and color-cued diffusers and provide the type of rear end you'd expect from the house of the F1.

Merdad hasn't said much about it, but rumor is that we'll see it next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and it will be released next year along with a GT3 version.

Flying Car

It’s been cleared to take to the skies for more than a year – but that’s not much use when you’re supposed to be able to drive it, too.But now the flying car has at least been declared officially road legal.

It means the Terrafugia Transition could be in U.S. garages as early as next autumn, after two years of delays.It may not be the world’s first flying car, but its makers say it is the first to have wings that fold up automatically at the push of a button.It costs $200,000 – about the same price as a Ferrari – and can be reserved online for what Terrafugia describes as a ‘modest’ $10,000 deposit.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has officially announced the Transition, called a ‘roadable aircraft’ by its makers, can now be legally driven on America’s roads.It granted the vehicle special dispensations, which allow it to use airplane-style plastic windows instead of the safety glass usually used in cars, as it would be too heavy.