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We're running out of metaphors to describe the many ways that information, like water, leaks from automakers and bursts through embargoes. In this case it's a flood of pictures from the facelifted 2009 Mercedes SL, and we've got so many of them that we're tempted to start building a giant boat and filling it with pairs of animals. Yesterday it was just two quick glimpses of the 2009 SL 350, today we get exterior and interior photos of the new luxovert.

It's still uncertain what's going on under the hood of the new Mercedes because no one has been nice enough to leak the press release (but that's bound to happen fairly soon). In the meantime, enjoy the cars and the smiley drivers MB trots out for these photos. [Carcoop]

Detroit Auto Show, Crossovers/CUVs, Saab

We'll be seeing a wide array of vehicles from General Motors at the Detroit Auto Show less than a month from now. According to Bob Lutz, the lineup will include at least the ZR1 'Vette, the CTS-V, Saturn Flextreme, and Two-Mode Saturn Vues in regular and plug-in variants. AutoCar is also reporting that a concept version of Saab's new crossover, the 9-4X, will turn up at Cobo Hall. The 9-4X is expected to share a variation of GM's Theta compact CUV architecture with the new Cadillac BRX and be built in Mexico alongside the Saturn Vue. Perhaps more interesting to true Saab aficionados will be the arrival of a new 9-1 model at the London Motor Show next July. This one will come off the next generation Delta platform along with the Astra and be as close as Trollhatten ever again gets to a "true" Saab.

[Source: AutoCar]

Toy manufacturer Mattel has announced that Mitsubishi Motors Research and Design of America (MRDA) employee Gary Ragle is among seven designer finalists to be selected in the company's first-ever Hot Wheels® Designer's Challenge™. MRDA was among six automotive manufacturers to participate in the challenge, which marked the first time Hot Wheels® has turned outside the company to seek new vehicle designs

Created to represent the ultimate Mitsubishi vehicle and the spirit of the brand's future, the sleek design of Ragle's Mitsubishi Double Shotz celebrates the 4G63 engine and the Lancer Evolution. "The design takes the concept of the Lancer Evolution to the next level and ties it in with the enjoyment and imagination of the Hot Wheels® brand," said Ragle.

After being selected by a panel of judges that included editors from the Los Angeles Times, Car and Driver, and Men's Journal, along with Hot Wheels® designers and executives, the designs were unveiled at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas on October 30th, 2007. The Hot Wheels® Designer's Challenge™ product line will be available in stores in the spring of 2008.

Filed under: Tuners, Coupes, Supercars, Mercedes Benz

 Project Kahn's SLR.

There isn't much left to do with a supercar. That's why they're called "super." Tuners of late, thankfully, seemed to be restraining themselves from going buck wild on them. On that note, with traditional British understatement, the tuning house Project Kahn has taken the Mercedes McLaren SLR and done, well, not all that much to it.

The car gets Kahn's trademark RS-X wheels, 20-inch up front and 21's in the rear. It also gets a 60 HP power boost to 677, a lowered suspension and high-flow pipes. Kahn expands on the smattering of colors that Mercedes offers by providing custom leather upholstery and paint jobs. Sure, it's not much, but at this level of the financial stratosphere, every little bit of individual luxury counts, no?

[Source: Motor Authority]

Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Sports/GTs, Etc., Volkswagen

 the VW GX3

Most of you probably remember the Volkswagen GX3, the German automaker's sensational three-wheeled sports concept that stunned LA Auto Show attendees in January of 2006. After a roller-coaster ride of will-they-or-won't-they speculation, including spy shots of a mule undergoing testing, VW canned the project because in today's litigious society, the risks to the company were deemed too great.

Enter Defiant Motors, an entity that has apparently been set up to gauge public interest in seeing a production version of the GX3 come to fruition. In the email we received from Aaron Mady, the owner of the DefiantMotors.com domain, he states that if there is enough interest, the ultimate goal would be to partner with Volkswagen to market a production GX3 as a Defiant-badged vehicle "so that they will not be liable for consumer education that the GX3 is a motorcycle." We have no idea what kind of resources Mady and/or Defiant Motors has at its disposal, so the viability of making step 2 happen is completely speculative.

We're not legal experts, so we'll have to defer to others more versed in matters such as this to determine whether such a situation would or could work. If you do have experience in this arena, we'd like to hear from you in the comments. And Defiant would like to hear from you if you're interested in parking a GX3 in your garage. It may be pie-in-the-sky, but it sure is an interesting idea, and it's just another great example of the kind of grassroots effort you can mount via the Internet. To Mady's and Defiant Motors' credit: they're trying.