Top Gear Host James May Crashes Camper-Dirigible Near Freeway, Unhurt

AutoBlog: REPORT: Top Gear host James May crashes camper-dirigible near freeway, unhurt

No guts, no glory, and it wouldn't be a Top Gear episode without some kind of outrageous stunt or challenge.

The propensity of autodom's favorite trio to flirt with danger has led to mishaps in the past, most famously, Richard Hammond (right) and his near-death tussle with a high speed rocket car, and now it's James May's (left) turn for a cock-up.  The UK's Daily Mail reports that May was riding in a caravan (that's a camper to you, buddy) lashed to the bottom of a dirigible, only to be blown off course by wind that had been uncooperative all day.

Rather than land on a busy cricket green full of white-togged players, the whole rig wound up succumbing to the wind and crash landed in a farmer's field. May was unhurt, and will live to crash another day – provided the BBC doesn't succumb to pressures calling for the program's demise.

eBay Find of The Day: Epic Custom Chevy SSR Thinks It's a Porsche GT3

AutoBlog: eBay Find of the Day: Epic custom Chevy SSR thinks it's a Porsche GT3

Chevrolet SSR with a Porsche complex :: Click to View Larger ::If you like Porsche sportscars, may we suggest that you avert your eyes. Ironically, we'd still recommend the same if you aren't a fan of Stuttgart's Cayenne. Because if you thought that Porsche having an SUV was tough to swallow, that ain't nothin' compared to what's been done to this Chevrolet SSR.

Outfitted with the wheels, brakes and what appears to be a number of interior pieces from the Porsche 911 GT3, this particular SSR seems to be suffering from something of an identity crisis. (We dare not ask what the donor Porsche came away looking like). But that's not all: the owner appears to have made some unique modifications to the body as well, including a whale's mouth (ostensibly in, um... "tribute" to the GT3's whale tail spoiler, which rather surprisingly has not been fitted to the Chevy's bed cover) and rather small (presumably high-intensity discharge) headlamps.

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Rumormill: Jaguar Working on All-New Five-Door "Coupe"

AutoBlog: Rumormill: Jaguar working on all-new five-door "coupe"

2003 Jaguar R-D6 Concept :: Click Image to View Larger ::We're not exactly sure when this trend will end, but it now looks like Jaguar is preparing to join the five-door coupe club. Inside Line is reporting that a compact hatch, similar to Audi's new A5 Sportback, is in the works. An evolution of the R-D6 concept first shown back way in 2003, it is being called the RD7, and will feature rear suicide doors and an E-Type aping side-hinged rear hatch. Now that's one heritage element that would definitely look cool, but might not be too practical – we'll have to reserve judgment until we see the final product.

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REPORT: Fiat to Close Bertone Purchase This Week

AutoBlog: REPORT: Fiat to close Bertone purchase this week

On Thursday, Fiat is expected to put its John Hancock on a preliminary agreement to close its purchase of Carrozzeria Bertone, the coachbuilding arm of the Bertone company.

In August Fiat won the right to acquire the builder, and it will throw €150 million at its operations over the next three years to return it to glory... or at the least allow it to begin producing new models.

Specific vehicles haven't been mentioned, but when (if) the Bertone factory reopens in late 2011, it's expected the production center will make the car that replaces the Euro-spec 300C. As a side note, that could be interesting because the European 300C is currently built by Magna, in Austria, and if Fiat brings production in-house that would mean more contract work taken from Opel's new papa. Jeep knockdown kits could also be shipped over and built for European consumption.

The purchase gives Fiat no stake in Stile Bertone, the now independent design firm that brought out the Mantide, so don't get your hopes up about wildly styled Chrysler supercars being built in northern Italy. Yet.

BREAKING: Penske Walks Away From Saturn Deal, Brand to "Wind Down"

AutoBlog: BREAKING: Penske walks away from Saturn deal, brand to "wind down"

Saturn fans will be saddened to hear that the brand is about to be history. Penske Automotive Group (PAG) and General Motors have been in the final stages of negotiations to transfer the brand, but late this afternoon, both parties issued statements that Penske was walking away from the deal.

The reason cited by Penske for the deal's demise is difficulty in securing a supply of product beyond the end of 2010. GM had agreed to continue supplying the Outlook, Aura and Vue until the end of next year, at which point Penske would get other automakers to produce vehicles to sell through the Saturn dealer network. You can read the official statements from both Penske and GM chronicling the demise of Saturn after the jump..

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REPORT: Bob Kruse, GM's Top Electric Car Exec & Chevy Volt Pointman, Steps Down

AutoBlog: REPORT: Bob Kruse, GM's top electric car exec and Chevy Volt pointman, steps down

Just a few months before the Chevrolet Volt is finally set to debut in production trim, one of the guys who spearheaded the whole project has reportedly left his post at General Motors. Bob Kruse (at right), who also helped plan the whole long-term strategy for GM's electric vehicle program, has resigned according to The Detroit News. Kruse has been the automaker's executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries since 2008, and has long been considered one of the key figures in getting the Volt from concept to production – he was particularly instrumental in developing the batteries that the Volt will use.

The report says Kruse is leaving to start his own consulting company, E V Consulting LLC. Kruse wanted to make it clear that his departure shouldn't be read as a statement about his feelings regarding GM's future success, but he did admit that they weren't happy he was leaving.

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OMG LOL: New Study Says 93% of Americans Favor Banning Text Messaging While Driving

AutoBlog:  OMG LOL: New study says 93% of Americans favor banning text messaging while driving

Maybe it's not surprising that Ford commissioned a study that helps bolster a sales case for some of its in-car-electronics, but the Blue Oval seems to have its finger on the pulse of the nation this time. Market researchers Penn, Schoen & Berland polled 1,000 drivers and found that 93% of them agree with the notion of a nationwide ban on texting. Those drivers seemed to be realists, however, with only 42% believing that the same idiots who punch out communiques instead of attentively piloting their 3,500 pound projectiles would actually curtail the behavior if a ban were enacted.

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Banking Trojan Steals Money From Under Your Nose

FYI.. Occasionally we post newsworthy Tech news, in this case, its an important notice.  -Gear 6

CNet News:  Banking Trojan steals money from under your nose

Researchers at security firm Finjan have discovered details of a new type of banking Trojan horse that doesn't just steal your bank log in credentials but actually steals money from your account while you are logged in and displays a fake balance.

The bank Trojan, dubbed URLZone, has features designed to thwart fraud detection systems which are triggered by unusual transactions, Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan, said in an interview Tuesday. For instance, the software is programmed to calculate on-the-fly how much money to steal from an account based on how much money is available.

It exploits a hole in Firefox, Internet Explorer 6, IE7, IE8, and Opera, and it is different from previously reported banking Trojans, said Ben-Itzhak. The Trojan runs an executable only on Windows systems, he said. The executable can come via a number of avenues, including malicious JavaScript or an Adobe PDF, he added.

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GM to Stop Duramax Diesel Output for Nearly Five Months

AutoWeek:  GM to stop Duramax diesel output for nearly five months

General Motors will stop building the current version of the Duramax diesel engine at the end of this year.A 4½-month pause in production of the Duramax diesel engine threatens supplies of profitable Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra diesel pickups.

Not only is GM's pickup inventory lean, but analysts also predict that sales will start to recover while the Duramax engine plant is down.

GM is scheduled to stop building the current version of the Duramax in mid-December. Production of a re-engineered 2010 Duramax is scheduled to restart in late April.

During the pause, GM will retool the Moraine, Ohio, plant where the engine is built, and GM engineers will tune the 6.6-liter turbocharged diesel V8 to meet tough new emissions rules that take effect Jan. 1.

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Rejected GM, Chrysler Dealers Telling Their Story on YouTube [w/VIDEO]

AutoBlog: REPORT: Rejected GM, Chrysler dealers telling their story on YouTube [w/VIDEO]

Since government money washed in to pump out General Motors' and Chrysler's swamped and nearly sunken businesses, there's been little mention of the cuts to the dealer base that both automakers have made as part of their rebirth. Tammy Darvish, whose DarCars Automotive Group lost two Chrysler outlets, has started a YouTube channel that encourages terminated dealers to send in videos telling their stories.  Watch video after the jump..

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