And this is the trouble with technology. You try to give people a fun, innovative way to interact with a secret vehicle, they find a way to trick the system to show you the car that was supposed to remain hidden. Autoblog…

“Talk to Lieberman,” I heard from a few seats up. A bunch of us auto-journo types were on a bus heading off to drive the new Porsche Cayman R. “Huh?” I asked. friend Lavrinc from Autoblog was chatting with Jason Cammisa from Automobile about the Nissan Versa Base, Nissan’s no-frills, $9,990 entry-level joy buzzer and [...]

Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler/Fiat CEO, rolls around the Detroit Auto Show with a posse. Seriously. He's got a body guard (one of whom I have a picture of as he stepped into my camera as I was shooting) an assistant and some other flunkies as well as a swarm of photographers / videographers / sonographers following him around in case he happens to let fly with some juicy news.

And let fly he has. Shocking….

There are three big items credited to Sergio from this year's Detroit Auto show. Let's start with the truckiest: There is going to be a  multipurpose Jeep vehicle in the near future "with something that they call a truck bed" reports pickuptrucks.com. He went further, discussing the Gladiator Concept, "There's a better than 50 percent chance that you'll get one. Regardless of what Ram says." Ram, of course, is Chrysler Co's Truck line so any other brand having a pickup could be seen as overlap.

But wait, there's more! After the jump there's more Marchionne talking about Grand Wagoneers and the death of a minivan…..

 Next up is the 2013 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Yep. The next seven-seat Jeep product will ditch the Commander study and pick up the heritage GW title. This may have something to do with Marchionne's feelings on the Commander, "That car was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don't know why people bought them." Tell us how you really feel…

The Grand Wagoneer will be priced higher than the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Finally, Marchionne said that Chrysler would pare down its minivan offerings to one. "We will have to look at the branding, but we are absolutely going to one minivan." The branding he's discussing is whether or not to call the van a Chrysler Town & Country or a Dodge Caravan. Dodge Caravan has the longer history, but the TnC outsells the Dodge and delivers more money to Chrysler. Tricky situation.

Oh, and expect a decision on a Nitro replacement within the next 40 days — so, that would be the Chicago Auto Show.

( Auto News, Pickup Trucks.com, Autoblog )

A few weeks back we brought you a drive / feature on the 1976 Mercedes-Benz C111-IID. This oft-forgotten Mercedes-Benz engineering mule is one of those secret car-guy handshakes. "Hey, remember that rotary diesel Mercedes supercar?" If the guy you're talking with gives you crazy eyes, he's not in the club and then it's your job to talk him off of his airfield barstool with the full details: Wankel engine. 280-horsepower. Averaged 160 mph over 10,000 miles of driving — in 64 hours. Set numerous diesel records. Gullwing doors!

For more on the real car, see our feature. What we have here, however, is an attempt by San Antonio Mercedes modifier GWA to relive the past. The GWA Ciento Once (One hundred eleven) is built on a tubular space frame and powered by a 408-horsepower version of the V12 found in the Pagani Zonda. No pricing estimates or production plan is available. Still, neat.

( GWA via Autoblog )

"WRC is for boys. Group B was for men."

It's rare that we find ourselves this taken with a video is virtually no car sounds, but this one does it. Group B racing highlights will do that. Group B, you'll remember, was a four-year program which spawned some of the best rally cars ever — the Porsche 959, Lancia 037 and Delta S4, the Ford RS200 and 288 GTO for example — and, thanks to virtually unlimited power, some of the fastest and deadliest. Group B lasted only four years before people got all country conscious and wanted drivers (and others) to stop dying at the wheels of these beasts, but their legend lives on.

Watch. Enjoy. And then skip the jump to hear some of these beasts in action.

( Autoblog )

Well this isn't a day anyone really predicted. We've been seeing news of the Maybach 57s-based Xenatec Coupe for a while now, but really, never thought it would come to fruition. So few of these projects ever do.

But we're happy we're wrong as this Excelero based uber-coupe is a stunner. And it should be, the guy who designed the Maybach, Fredrik Burchhardt, designed it. The project was funded by a $93,000,000 investment by Saudi Arabia's AutoKingdom with a plan of building 100 examples. Enough orders are in already to keep them busy for a full year.

The one shown here is for understanding already on Jameslist for the cool price of $950,000 plus whatever it costs to export one out of Saudi Arabia.

( Autoblog via Jameslist )

"Hey ya'll, watch this!" while looking at Subaru Legacy and a fallen log is a vastly different proposition when you're O'Neil Rally School instructor Wyatt Knox.

As awesome as this is (and really, it is), next time we want to see a darkslide, Knox.

( Autoblog Via Jalopnik )

There's nothing quite like the internet to misunderstand the word "confidential." Or, if not misunderstand, completely ignore. This time it wasn't national secrets but an order guide for the upcoming new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4.  TeamSpeed today is our very own automotive Wikileaks.

According to the docs, the Murcielago's replacement will make 690 horsepower from a 6.5-liter V12, get to 60 in 2.9 seconds, return 13.5 mpg, have a fuel tank that holds 23.77 gallons, have 6-piston fixed calipers up front and four-pistons out back and, in Lamborghini fashion, have massive tires; 255/35R20 up front and 335/30R20 out back.

Follow the jump for the rest of the specs, new colors, stitching, engine bonnet options (clear or not ) etc.

Obviously this isn't official so anything may change at any point.

( Teamspeed via Autoblog )

The Real Driving Simulator, indeed. I can totally see this happening next track day. Think you can manage this feat in iRacing?

( Thanks to the readers who sent it, presumably from Autoblog )

When the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon goes on understanding (in the US!) it will be carrying a sticker price of $30,860 plus a $860 for destination and delivery fee. For that you get a 201-horsepower 2.4-liter inline-4 and a five-speed automatic. That's $1,350 more than the 2011 Acura TSX Sedan (which you can get with a manual in).

For that $31-grand you get leather, XM radio, iPod integration, Bluetooth and a moonroof. Want more? There's a $3,650 TSX Technology Pack that adds navigation, rear-view camera, ELS sound, a power liftgate and GPS-linked solar-sensing climate control.  

( Autoblog )