Desirable cars have always had an interesting effect on the wallet. Tell a wealthy enthusiast that he can't have, say, the latest Ferrari, and see just how much he's willing to pay above the sticker price for the bragging rights. The latest example of automotive lust for which the fanatics and early adopters are happy to overpay? The Chevrolet Volt.

According to The New York Times "Wheels" blog, dealers in the early Volt markets of California, Texas, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., are adding a premium -- sometimes several thousand dollars -- to the Volt's already significant $41,000 price tag (which drops to $33,500 after the $7,500 federal tax credit). 

BMW of North America was eager to improve several parts of the X3 Sports Activity Vehicle for the new generation that goes on sale in January. Not least of those improvements were the cupholders.

Old X3: Bad cupholders. New X3: Good, Starbucks-friendly, American-style cupholders right below the center instrument panel.

The rise in BMW's U.S. sales over the past two years, even eclipsing BMW sales in the German home market, made designers and engineers back in Munich more open to incorporating quirky American preferences, said Joe Wierda, the X3 product manager at BMW.

 

Just in time for this weekend's big rally in Sturgis, the only Victoria's Secret Angel with a Harley explains the mystique behind riding a bike -- with or without a man -- for those of us not exactly contemplating the flag tattoo or bandana look. She is, as usual, very convincing.

A man on a motorcycle turns me on because a man on a motorcycle is automatically bad -- a little bit tough, a little bit rugged -- and, for pretty much any woman, automatically hot.

 

BMW AG hopes to get out from under the gas-guzzler taxes that are tacked on to the sticker prices of some of its high-performance models in the United States.

Jim O'Donnell, president of BMW of North America, says the company is studying fuel-efficiency improvements that could eliminate the gas-guzzler taxes on its vehicles as early as the launch of their redesigns in the next few years.

 

Someone at Bentley has been asleep at the loan office. Somehow, we’ve been lucky enough to get to play with not one, but two of the company’s ultraluxury products within a month. I, however, have to respectfully disagree with good Mr. Condon’s assertion that if anyone ever approaches you with the chance to hop behind the wheel of one of these rolling testaments to consumption, you should run away. Oh no. Call me the devil’s advocate if you must, but every man, woman and child on this planet deserves -- no, needs -- the chance to devour pavement in a Bentley at some point in their lives.

Why? Because so very many of the vehicles on the road right now force drivers to live with compromises that any self-respecting human just shouldn’t have to make. More common carmakers will tell you that a car can be fast but not comfortable, or comfortable but not fast. Buyers are shoehorned into cars with basement-rate interiors that are justified only by their price tags. In short, we’ve forgotten entirely what it means to enjoy the art of getting from one location to the next. The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed is more than happy to refute all of those stuffy conventions of the auto industry with the first brazen thrust of your right foot. 

Hyundai has been the most fuel-efficient carmaker in America since 2008 -- and that standing has helped, in part, to boost Hyundai's sales: The Korean manufacturer has enjoyed a 50 percent increase in market share in those past two years.

Now, Hyundai has announced plans to deliver a fleetwide average of 50 mpg by 2025, far ahead of the government-mandated fuel-economy standard of 35.5 mpg by 2016. (Hyundai had announced a similar 35 mpg goal by 2015 even before the government mandate was announced.) The company is looking to its Blue Drive strategy -- sort of a group-think approach to research and development that encompasses all of the company's engineering centers across the globe -- to deliver the goods, along with "improvements and innovation in powertrains, including gasoline direct injection, turbocharging, electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, lightweight materials and design." 

The new, all-aluminum 5.0-liter V8 that is the heart of the 2011 Ford Mustang GT--and is destined for future duty in Ford's F-Series pickups--has popped up as a new entry in the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog.

With a suggested retail price of just a buck less than $7,000, you can get the same 412 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque sits under the hood of new Mustangs. And since the engine mount bosses and bellhousing mount pattern are common with Ford's 4.6-liter V8, the 5.0-liter is an easy swap for older Mustangs.

 

A year after the "Cash for Clunkers" program brought otherwise gun-shy buyers into showrooms across the country, it's hard to argue that the program provided a much-needed surge to a flailing auto industry -- and that surge, for some manufacturers, has continued well after the program ended last August.

As reported on the Consumer Reports blog, in terms of year-over-year sales, GM, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan and Subaru have all reported increases this July compared with July 2009. And while Honda's and Toyota's July sales were down slightly from the heady days of the government-funded sales push during the same month last year -- a July-to-July drop of 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively -- their 2010 sales thus far are still up over the same time period in 2009.