Pelican Brief: Court to Decide on Whether Drowned Veyron was a $2 Million Insurance Scam or Not

The Bugatti Veyron is an amazing car that can do a lot of things – which, no doubt, you have read and heard about a gazillion times by now.

What it can’t do, though, is run across water. If you are one of the 2.5 million viewers who watched the video on YouTube (or Carscoop), then you must remember the much talked about incident from 2009 when a Veyron veered off the road and dived into a saltwater lagoon in Galvestone, Texas.

The driver and owner of the Veyron, Andy House, claimed at the time that a low-flying pelican distracted him and he then jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and eventually lost control of the $2 million car ending up in the lake.

The popular video, however, that was filmed by someone driving on an adjacent road shows no pelican in sight – just the Veyron going for a dip.

Now, a jury in Texas is to decide whether House is telling the truth or if he intentionally drowned the Veyron to collect a $2 million insurance.

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Mazda Readies New Biante GRANZ Prototype for the Tokyo Motor Show

The 42nd edition of the biennial Tokyo Motor Show that opens for the public on December 3 will see Mazda unveiling a new prototype version of its Japanese domestic market Biante people carrier.

The Biante GRANZ showcar is a design study for a more luxurious version of the 4.7-meter (186-in.) long minivan. The most noticeable changes take place up front where Mazda's designers moved the firm's new five-point grille from the lower part of the bumper to right under the hood. The new grille also gains prominent horizontal chrome slabs.

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Does the World Really Need Another Chinese Brand? Chery Certainly Thinks So, Launches Qoros [Video]

We tried to count the number of Chinese carmakers, and it turns out that there are approximately 70 brands. That’s not counting the foreign makes they’ve already bought like Volvo, or are currently trying to acquire like Saab, nor their numerous joint ventures with almost every big-, medium- or small-sized foreign automotive companies from Isuzu and Suzuki to Toyota and General Motors.

Even Alfa Romeo, which has cancelled its return to the U.S. more times than we care to remember, has plans to form a joint venture with local company Guangzhou Automobile.

Well, the list just got a little but bigger as on Monday Chery Automobile Co. and investment firm Israel Corp. announced a new joint venture that will lead to a new brand called Qoros.

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Steinmetz Hatches New Tuning Program for Opel Astra GTC

With the upcoming Astra OPC, Opel and its sister company Vauxhall have pretty much covered the needs of the go-fast crowd, but for those that already have a regular GTC model and would like some modest upgrades, Steinmetz revealed a new tuning program at the Essen Motor Show that runs from November 26 to December 4. Read more »

Korean Tow Trucks Break Every Law in the Book while Trying to Reach an Accident Scene First [Video]

We completely understand that in certain life-threatening situations, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles should have the priority on the road - even if that means breaking some laws, as long as they don't endanger the lives of other drivers.

But seriously now, tow trucks violating every single law in the traffic book just to be the first to reach a client at an accident scene is a something out of reason.

In the following video that was shot from a dashboard mounted camera placed in one of at least three tow trucks that were racing against each other on public roads in South Korea, we see the driver passing countless red lights and entering the opposite side of the road with no consideration whatsoever for the rest of the cars.

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More Troubles for Swedish Carmaker as Saab Great Britain Files for Administration

The impasse on the sale of Saab Automobile to Pang Da and Youngman has not been resolved, due to Saab shareholder and supplier General Motors objecting to its platform and engineering technology being transferred to the Chinese.

Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan), though, announced today that Saab Great Britain (Saab GB) filed for administration with the High Court in London.

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GM Builds 100 Millionth Small Block Engine, Confirms Gen V with Direct Injection Tech

It’s one of the most famous engine series in the world with a history spanning close to six decades. We're talking about General Motors' small block that was first introduced by Chevrolet in 1955 and which celebrates today its 100 million production milestone.

Fittingly, the landmark small block is a hand-built, 638-horsepower supercharged LS9 V8 that will find its way under the hood of a Corvette ZR1. The force-fed LS9 is the most powerful engine ever to be installed in a regular-production Chevrolet or GM vehicle.

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