Of all the possible reasons that a vehicle could be recalled, a poor paint job doesn't at first seem all that newsworthy. After all, cars could theoretically be recalled for exploding gas tanks, runaway engines or any number of horror-inducing problems. Bad paint? No harm, no foul -- just take it back and have it repainted properly. Unless, of course, that paint problem could lead to the loss of your windshield or roof while driving. This is exactly the worry that the NHTSA has with 43 smart ForTwo's, all sold in 2008. It seems that some adhesive was laid over the problematic paint, and if the paint lets go... so does the glue. While it's never happened to us personally, we tend to agree with the NHTSA's assessment that the sudden loss of either the glass in front of you or the ceiling protecting your dome could potentially lead to a crash. Anybody who's concerned can contact their dealer, assuming that they haven't already been notified of the problem.

Remember: When traveling to faraway locales, always have your camera. A reader by the name of Steve did just so and was rewarded with some pictures of Hyundai's latest and greatest models. Why, you may wonder, was the Korean automaker testing these vehicles? They were likely undergoing high elevation testing, as they were snapped on Mount Evans in Colorado. The Mount Evans Scenic Byway, leading to the summit overlook, is the highest paved road in North America (thanks, Wikipedia!).

There's plenty to see here. We've all seen the Genesis Coupe before, but not in yellow, and it looks good. The Portico doesn't really get the blood boiling, but it could turn into an important Edge\Traverse fighter for the Koreans. Perhaps the most interesting car here is what appears to be a heavily disguised Equus sedan. Being that its covered head-to-toe, we had to look closely to spot the rear fender bulge which seems to identify the car. Update: As our readers have pointed out in the comments, this appears to be the new Kia based on the Hyundai Azera.

Bill Osborne, up until yesterday the President of Ford Australia, is not the only non-U.S. Ford exec taking a walk from his responsibilities at the Blue Oval. Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd head-honcho Barry Engle (above) has also chosen to leave the company on the exact same day. The coincidences don't end there, as both men took their respective positions just six months ago in February of this year. While we're not yet sure what role Osborne will be stepping into, his counterpart from Canada is headed to Pennsylvania, his home state, to join New Holland Agricultural Equipment SpA as president and CEO. New Holland is a unit of CNH Global NV -- itself controlled by Italian automaker Fiat.

As we said regarding the open position in Australia: "Ford has not announced a replacement, but the new boss will have his or her work cut out as the Australian market adjusts from its high-horsepower diet to more fuel efficient vehicles." Yeah... that's been going around.

Not too many surprises lie under the camoflage, the next-generation GTI will be the Angry-Teut-Box version of Volkswagen's forthcoming Golf VI, which we've already seen. The overall milieu is an evolutionary step from our current fifth-generation Golf/Rabbit, though the detail changes to the GTI that KGP snagged add some sporty stylistic touches which will undoubtedly be backed up by hardware. The front end gets honeycomb grilles for every opening and eschews foglamps in favor of brake cooling, with bright red calipers now squeezing away. A dual exhaust setup might have you thinking R32 instead of GTI, but there are rumors floating around that the R32 will be kaput after the current generation. We hope that the MkVI keeps or even expands upon the current GTI's demeanor, which finally returned to some of the original hot-hatch magic after years of bloat. Rumors are that the GTI VI will show up at the Paris Motor Show as a "concept" - nudge,nudge,wink,wink.

We truly do appreciate the custom-car scene, in all of its various guises. There is, however, a problem with the custom Prius you see above and in the video embedded after the break. Generally speaking, the goal of modifying a car is to either A) make it go faster or B) make it look better.

When Classe Gustafson, Elvis Häggbom and Kenny Kyrk from Sweden had finished spending $184,000 customizing a Toyota Prius, they had accomplished neither. This Prius-trocity, which was modified for a television show, is anything but subtle. It lost two doors during its transformation from mild-mannered hybrid eco-mobile to whacked out sport compact that just happens to get good fuel economy, though it did get scissor-style portals that are nearly impossible to open in the process. And it also gained a huge honkin' stereo and the body-kit from a Volvo SUV. The over-the-top paint-job is the final touch. The Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain, however, went untouched save for the obligatory fart-can exhaust. Nice.

To the 'Ring we go, and our companions today are -- in the apt words of World Car Fans -- "beauty and the beast." That would be the Aston Martin Rapide and the Porsche Panamera. We'll let you decide which one deserves which title. Follow the link and you'll find a large gallery of both cars in basic black, un-camo'ed and racing each other around the 'Ring to help cast your vote.

In practical considerations, the Panamera looks to have the Rapide beat in all kinds of ways. For instance, it should get better gas mileage if you get the V6 or V8, and it has more trunk space with 450 liters. Aston's cars have little trunk syndrome, and the Rapide probably won't really change that. But hey, who would buy a Panamera or Rapide for practical reasons? Either way, we won't really know the state of things until the 2009 Geneva Motor Show next March when they are officially introduced.

Bentleys and buckets of torque go hand-in-hand. Therefore, it might make some sense for the German-owned British luxury marque to consider one of the VW Group's big, powerful turbodiesels for one of its upcoming models. Not so fast, says Bentley. It has specifically polled its customer base -- made up mostly of Americans and Asians -- to determine if there's any interest in an oil-burning Bentley. Apparently, there isn't. Instead, the luxo-barge company will focus on biofuels in an effort to lower the fuel consumption and emissions of a numbers of its models. As a matter of fact, the first flex-fuel engine from the Flying B is expected to debut in 2009 and Franz-Josef Paefgen, Bentley's Chief Executive, says that all of its models will be capable of running on biofuels by 2012 as part of its plan to go British Racing green.

Environmentally-friendly California is putting an end to lead balancing weights on wheels and tires. The heavy metal neurotoxin is polluting the state's ground water supplies, according to the Center for Environmental Health. The group claims that more than 500,000 pounds of lead weights are inadvertently flung off wheels each year, making it the state's leading cause of environmental lead contamination. Under a court settlement approved this week, Chrysler and the three largest lead weight wheel manufacturers will all phase out lead in wheel weights by the end of 2009. While California is taking the initiative in this country, we are still years behind the European Union, which banned lead weights in 2005. With lead on the chopping block, future wheel weights will be made from either steel or zinc alloy. Those metal weights are larger and more expensive to produce than lead, but much safer for Mother Earth.

The coming Jaguar XF-R has been caught in the valley of death. It was accompanied by a Jaguar XJ mule and shepherded by a fleet of Land Rovers charged with blocking the all-seeing eye of someone's Sony Handycam. Fortunately for us, they failed. The driver of this particular prototype XF-R couldn't keep his foot off the throttle, as at different points in the video you hear the growl of a big displacement V8 and the accompanying scream of a supercharger. Other than vents in the hood to let that 5-liter V8 breathe, the body modifications look to be exceptionally tame. With 500 horsepower, however, its acceleration should be quite the opposite.

The Hyundai Genesis sedan has only been on sale for a month, but the automaker is already considering upgrading the current 4.6-liter V8 with a 5.0-liter version. Hyundai's North American product chief, John Krafcik, told MotorTrend that the Tau V8 could be stroked up to 5.5-liters, but the ideal displacement to keep fuel economy on par with power is an even five liters.

The plan is to increase the displacement of the V8, as well as adding direct-injection to Hyundai and Kia's range of fours, sixes and eights over the next few years. It's a move that several automakers have already adopted and Hyundai's decision to increase its V8's displacement will only happen if it can keep output the same or better while retaining the 4.6-liter's fuel economy.

No matter how you slice it, a proposed $25 billion loan from the Feds is a bailout, and that's exactly what Detroit's Big Three automakers are after, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Lobbyists for General Motors, Chrysler and Ford have met with White House officials, Rep. John Dingell and a smattering of Michigan Democrats to discuss the loan, with plans to unveil the proposal after Labor Day.

The plan includes lending $25 billion to automakers in its first year at an interest rate of 4.5 percent (about one-third of what the companies are currently paying), with the government having the option to defer any payment for up to five years.

Details are scarce, and naturally, GM, Ford and Chrysler reps aren't saying much, but if the automakers and the Feds are serious, expect more information to leak out before the proposal is officially announced.

The big question for Bugatti is: What comes after the Veyron? Seriously, there isn't much that could top the 1,000-or-so horsepower, quad-turbo, 16-cylinder engine that's carried around in the back of the most gorgeous body ever with an equally exquisite interior. How about a revised model with 1,200-horsepower and 1,106 lb-ft of torque? Yeah, that'd do nicely. Rumors indicate that an über-Veyron could make an appearance at the very end of this current generation's production.

Despite consistent rumors of the firm's eventual demise after that, head-honcho Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen says that another supercar and possibly an ultra-lux saloon (four-door to all you poor people) could be in the cards for 2012. In an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, alternative-fuel powerplants will also be on the drawing board. We know that parent-company VW has plenty of worthy powerplants in its parts bin, and the idea of giant torque funneled through an all-wheel drive system has us saving our millions already.

Autoblog reader Chris stopped for a Whopper with cheese at just the right moment the other day, as he happened upon a U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta five-door hatchback in his local Burger King's parking lot. The car's status was confirmed by the rather open Ford engineer who was driving it, who claimed that his car was 98% production ready for the U.S. He even let Chris sit in it, and he reports that the interior (see pic here) fit and finish was top notch with soft-touch materials and some seriously impressive seats. He told us the switch gear, IP dials, etc. also worked well and that he was surprised to find push button start in such a small car. While Chris did ask about what was powering this particular Fiesta, the engineer refused to comment saying only "we should be excited with what the plans are." Consider us excited.

Just when we thought we'd seen the worst celebrity-endorsed product placement of the new Camaro, our new bestest friend Hernando delivers this gem: The Esteban Camaro Legend Limited Edition Guitar Package.

The self-proclaimed master of the six-stringed arts has assaulted late night viewers of the Home Shopping Network for years. And if his unnaturally coiffed hair and darkened sunglasses weren't enough to send a chill down your spine, this will. Whoever at General Motors signed off on this licensing deal needs to be drawn, quartered, fired on a spit and then served to a rabid pack of lemmings – for starters.

The kit includes the Camaro guitar coated in "Hugger Orange and twin Gun Metal sport stripes", a custom guitar strap, numbered certificate of authenticity and "is sleek, slick and ready to burn rubber with its heavy-hitting sound." Mullet sold separately.

Hennessey Performance is apparently excited that the Dodge Challenger is finally here. They now offer a myriad of performance upgrades for the Challenger SRT8 including naturally aspirated versions of Chrysler's 6.1L VEMI V8 that increase power up to 575 horsepower, as well as supercharged and turbo versions producing up to 725 hp. There's clearly a power upgrade for everyone, but the most impressive appears to be the Challenger HPE600 Turbo, also known as the SRT600, which Hennessey reports has ripped off a quarter mile time of 11.9 seconds at 121 mph. The company called the car's launch during the run "conservative", though it was wearing optional Nitto Drag Radial tires at the time.

Of course, any big bump in power should be accompanied by equal improvements to the suspension and brakes, and Hennessey will also fit your car with a KW adjustable coil-over suspension, larger anti-roll bars, new bushings and unique StopTech brakes. The cost of a complete Challenger HPE600 Turbo package (including Hennessey embroidered floor mats but not the cost of the donor car, of course) is $74,950, though one can opt for just the engine upgrades and be liberated of only $29,500. In total you could be spending well north of $100,000 on a 725-hp Challenger if you find Hennessey's approach appealing, but look at this way, you'd probably be the only one.

After holding the title for just over six months, the President of Ford Australia has resigned and is moving to the United States to "fulfill a career dream." President Bill Osborne, who took the position only in February, insists his departure has nothing to do with the fact that the company just announced 350 jobs will be cut at Victorian plants. Mr. Osborne is mum on where he is heading, although a company spokesperson said it is outside the automotive industry. Ford has not announced a replacement, but the new boss will have his or her work cut out as the Australian market adjusts from its high-horsepower diet to more fuel efficient vehicles. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Special edition Elises are becoming a dime-a-dozen, but Lotus decided Kahn Design should be tasked with creating its own bespoke version of the Elise to celebrate the automaker's 60th anniversary.

Kahn, primarily known for its body-kit-equipped Astons, Benzes, Landies and Rollers, has taken the standard Elise and given it an aesthetic once-over in an attempt to justify it's yet-to-be-disclosed price tag. The enhancements include a new front splitter, side skirts and rear wing, along with silver mesh fitted to the side air intakes and rear clam. The seats have replaced with thicker, leather thones and the Kahn logo has been embossed on the headrests, center console and steering wheel. In keeping with Kahn tradition, performance modifications are limited to 19-inch wheels, a new suspension and a sports exhaust.

The Kahn Elise will officially debut next month, with sales beginning later this year through the UK's Dream Machines Lotus dealership.

BMW's N54 engine has won the International Engine of the Year award for the past two straight years. It has also been listed as one of Ward's 10 Best Engines during the same period. The engine produces 306 hp and 295 ft-lbs of torque in a 3.0L inline six package thanks to the use of twin Mitsubishi turbochargers and direct injection. The N54's quick response and smooth torque curve has been an attraction for many enthusiasts, including myself - I call my Montego Blue coupe the turbo Cookie Monster. That is why a few BMW 335i owners are miffed by a feeling of reduced performance after a recent service update. Posters on the BMW forum e90post.com claim that a software update to adjust rattling wastegate valves has induced lag into the turbochargers that wasn't there before.

As illustrated in the gallery below, the N54 turbochargers differ from most setups in that the wastegates default to the open position. This allows for better emissions due to the ability of the exhaust gas to bypass the turbochargers on start up so the catalytic converters can heat up faster. It certainly follows suit that BMW has the ability to adjust the ECU settings in order to hold those wastegates open, thus altering the turbochargers' peak boost point and adding to the perception of lag. Currently all performance degradation discussion has been based on seat of the pants feel, along with increased exhaust noise and fuel consumption. Despite the claims, BMW North America and service centers have, thus far, found no critical issue with the new settings. If owners want to present true evidence, they should use a simple OBD scanner device to data log the manifold pressure or simply run a dyno comparison test.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to testing electric cars. Maybe the problem is that he's never gotten his hands on the right one. Reports are coming in from across the pond that the popular television series has recently procured a Tesla Roadster for Mr. Clarkson to wedge his rather large and surly self into. We have a feeling that Jeremy will like this car -- its performance, after all, rivals that of many gas-powered cars we consider super. Plus, it has British roots, and anybody who has ever watched the show knows that this fact earns brownie points from the three-man crew.

When will the test take place? That's a good question. Our compatriots over at AutoblogGreen have contacted Daryl Siry, head PR man at the Silicon Valley EV company, who told us that no specific date has been set. He did assure us, however, that a test will definitely take place. When it does, we sure hope that it goes better than the last electric vehicle test. Seriously, it could hardly go worse.