Jeffrey Kaffee, a retired airline pilot, was the first recipient of a 2011 Chevrolet Volt early today at a dealership in Denville, NJ. Kaffee, in either an ultra-lucky coincidence or a pre-planned (and well thought out) move, traded in a Toyota Prius to get his hands on the new GM extended range plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

360 Volts are being shipped this week from GM's Detoir-mantramck plant to dealers on the East Coast.

Back in November, GM place up a Viridian Joule 2011 Chevy Volt up for auction. The proceeds, it was said, would benefit the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) departments of the Detroit Public School Foundation.

Well, now the auction is over and the final bid was $225,000. That is all.

*The winning bidder has been announced as Rick Hendrick, chairman of Hendrick Motorsports and Chairman of the Hendrick Auto Group which controls at least 12 Chevy Dealers. He was quoted as saying he wanted to "own a piece of history while giving back to the community." And that the Vol is "one of the most exciting and important new cars since we opened our first dealership in 1976."*

Back in November, GM place up a Viridian Joule 2011 Chevy Volt up for auction. The proceedes, it was said, would benefit the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) departments of the Detroit Public School Foundation.

Well, now the auction is over and the final bid was $225,000. That is all.

There are few better ways to waste a LOT of time online than a configurator with….well….every color imaginable acquirable to alter virtually every part of a really expensive car.

Want to waste the remainder of your day? Head over to the Bugatti Veyron Configurator.

And sorry, our platform won't let you share yours directly, but if you email them to submissions@edmunds.com, I'll update this with what you got.

  A few weeks back we covered the disappointments of calendar year 2010. Today, let's hit a higher note and discuss the things that went right for the year. Not just right, but what is it we're going to remember 2010 for 5, 10, 40 years from now? And so, in the spirit of last time:

We're not even going to place a picture here to feed the fires, but consider that 2010 was the year of the Volt, the Leaf, Gran Turismo 5, McLaren's comeback, Geely's buying Volvo, GM IPO. It was quite a year. Lotus introducing five, fat new cars!

So, have at it: What was the most disappointing  BEST thing about the year 2010?

Lexus today has announced pricing on its sporty, 42-mpg hybrid hatchback: $29,120 + $875 for destination / delivery. For this customers will be treated to standard SmartAccess with push-button Start/Stop and touch sensors on exterior front-door handles; leather steering wheel; a six-speaker, audio system with a CD player, and Bluetooth for phone and music streaming capabilities; integrated satellite broadcasting receiver (includes complimentary 90-day trial subscription); USB/iPod connectivity; 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels; and dual regularize automatic climate control and eight airbags.

For comparison, the more efficient, less sporty Toyota Prius goes for $22,800.

There's news and then there's Martha Stewart customizing a $43,925 X3 in sparkling Bronze Metallic exterior with Sand Beige Nevada Leather interior and Fineline Wave Wood Interior Trim online with the plan of giving one away to her viewers.

Here it is on her blog.

This is a sketch of the Australian market Ford Territory and, according to Ford, it ""provides a glimpse into the future of Ford's global SUV styling." Meaning: "ditch the big wheels and tone down the chrome-trimmed three-bar grill in favor of a normal plastic one and that's what the next-gen Ford Escape will look like."

The Territory is based on the Ford Falcon which was Ford's first RWD Ecoboosted vehicle. Does that mean we have the structure here for a RWD, Ecoboost SVT Escape? Yes. Does that mean we'll ever see a RWD, Ecoboost SVT Escape? Absolutely not.

The 2012 Ford Escape will show itself at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show next month.

When it comes to Porsche, fast is the study of the game. And so when the company released the Porsche Panamera sedan, car guys with families or wives everywhere rejoiced, winced after seeing it and then, upon driving the absolutely-a-Porsche sedan, went back to a sort of half-hearted squinty rejoice.

And then Porsche went and muddied the waters and appeased the CAFE gods by stuffing a 3.6-liter V6 into the otherwise killer four-door. Sure, it makes 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, which is routed through a seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung transmission to the rear wheels, but it's a V6 in an automatic Porsche! And it's water-cooled! And it's rated by the EPA at 18 mpg city and 27 highway. Not only does this luxury barge hit nearly 30 mpg highway, but it's the only Panamera not subject to the gas-guzzler tax. But when you've got nearly $20,000 in options on a $74,400 car, does that matter?

All nice, but does this thing even drive like a Porsche? We took a 2011 Porsche Panamera V6 to the track to find out.

Vehicle: 2011 Porsche Panamera
Odometer: 3,512
Date: 10/26/10
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $91,075

Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Seven-speed auto-clutch manual
Engine Type: 3.6 liter naturally aspirated V6
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 3,605 / 220
Redline (rpm): 6,600
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 300 @ 6,200
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 295 @ 3,750
Brake Type (front): 14.17-inch ventilated disc with six-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): 12.99-inch ventilated disc with four-piston sliding calipers
Steering System: Hydraulic-assist rack-and-pinion power steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent double-wishbones, pneumatic springs, driver-adjustable variable dampers, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink, pneumatic springs, driver-adjustable variable dampers, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): 255/40ZR20 101Y
Tire Size (rear): 295/35ZR20 105Y
Tire Brand: Michelin
Tire Model: Pilot Sport PS2
Tire Type: Summer Performance
As Tested Curb Weight (lb): 4,025 (52% front)

Test Results:

Acceleration

0-30 (sec): 2.3
0-45 (sec): 3.8
0-60 (sec): 5.8
0-75 (sec): 8.4
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 14.0 @ 98.4
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 5.4

Braking

30-0 (ft): 28
60-0 (ft): 110

Slalom (mph): 69.7 (Stability on: 68.5)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.94 (stability on: 0.94)

Db @ Idle: 31.4
Db @ Full Throttle: 82.8
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 65.8

RPM @ 70: 1,800

Acceleration Comments: In normal drive, the car allows quite a lot of wheelspin even with traction control on. In "launch" mode (sport plus and two-pedals) there's obviously some clutch feathering and short-shifting happening; however, it works very well. Be that as it may, you only get one or two launches before the clutch gets hot and unhappy and launch mode no longer works.

Braking: Solid pedal, minimal dive, excellent drop resistance. Fast-cycling ABS with no hum or vibration at all.

Handling: Skid pad: Gentle understeer at the limit, but the limit is quite high. Steering is light but informative with ESC on. I couldn't detect any corrections, so either the parameters weren't violated for intrusion, or the corrections were very slight. Slalom: Even in Sport Plus, it takes some time for the chassis to take a set, but once it does, it's solid and predictable with quick reflexes– especially given the size of this sedan.

The above shot of the 2012 Lamborghini Murcielago / Jota / Aventador has been making the rounds lately as some sort of spy shot / LA Lamborghini club Facebook leak.

There's only one problem — they're hand out shots, from Lamborghini, from a driving event we covered last week. Cool shots and a neat car, but not exactly what we would call a leak. Though a Facebook leak will certainly happen sooner or later.

So if you dig the one shot they've posted, you'll probably want to follow the link (and the jump) for more.