An auto show, or motorshow, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year. They are vital to car manufacturers and local dealers as a public relations exercise, for advertising products, and for increasing publicity.

We've just driven the Tesla. And now, so can you. The astonishing electric supercar is on sale in Europe, with the first orders expected to arrive next spring. You'd better be quicksharp, though - Europe will get just 250 Roadsters for 2009, and Tesla's Darryl Siry tells us that 50 of them have already been snapped up. "Companies would pay millions for our list of potential customers," he told us. "We've got some big names in there..."

After years of successive rules changes, at the same time, the JGTC planned holding one more race outside of Japan, in China (Shanghai), in addition to Malaysia (Sepang). However, holding the series in more than three countries violates from the definition of the "national championship" of FIA.

A Mini plastered in Big Fun Stickers is a surefire sign that there’s an unctuous estate agent in the vicinity, but here’s the exception. This is the Mini E, the all-electric One set to debut at the LA Auto Show next month.

On Sunday evening I was browsing one of the many event listings for Seoul, looking for photo opportunities when I discovered that I had nearly missed the Seoul Auto Salon, a car show supposedly focused on modified and exotic cars--but one look at the photos here and you'll see what it's really about.

Now that’s what we call going out with a bang. The Pagani Zonda will soon be put out to pasture - to be replaced by an even more extreme supercar codenamed the C9 – but not without a final, ultra-extreme goodbye.

Volkswagen has taken the wraps off the Up!, an all-new model that the German marque claims could lead to an entirely new range of cars. One of the most interesting aspects of the new VW Up! is the engine location - in the rear of the car. There's also a good chance that it will be driven by a range of low emission 'green' engines.

The official job of a race queen is to hold an umbrella over the driver while his car is being worked on. They generally wear some sort of revealing costume (mini-dress, swimsuit, hot pants, or the like), as well as pantyhose and high heels or knee-high boots.

It is not often that one thinks of large sedans a fuel efficient vehicles. But that is precisely what Mercedes-Benz had in mind when developing the F700 DiesOtto. The DiesOtto engine, from where this vehicle gets its name, is capable of achieving just as much power as the typical sedan, and emits half of the emissions, or around the same amount as a typical compact car. If you ask me, this is what luxury vehicles should be aiming for.

The most well-known Hyundai organization is the Hyundai Motor Company, the world's 5th largest automaker selling mid sized sedans, coupes and SUVs like the Sonata, Genesis Coupe and the Santa Fe. Hyundai Heavy Industries is the world's largest shipbuilder, and Hynix is a top semiconductor producer.

Volkswagen has wowed the LA Auto Show with a three-wheeler concept called the GX3. The GX3 could become a production reality in the US, because it would be classed as a motorcycle and as such would be able to use congestion-busting 'car pool' lanes. The open cockpit two-seater has been pared to the minimum and uses motorcycle-style instruments.

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A.. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has enjoyed great success.

The new Dodge Challenger is, arguably, the American muscle car of the year. The SEMA show is, unquestionably, the American muscle tuning event of the year. Put them together, and you’re guaranteed fireworks. Big smoky fireworks. This is the Challenger SRT10, an official concept from Dodge which’ll be shown off in Las Vegas at the end of this month.

It takes quite an eBay listing to tear us away from a famous Ferrari Enzo, but this might just do it. This is a 1979 BMW M1 in full ProCar trim. We want it. Very much. Not least because it’s road-legal. Though it looks like a track-only M1, this is in fact one of the 456 road-spec production M1s built by BMW between 1978 and 1981.

Booming? You bet. No fewer than 25 international brands are manufactured in China, including Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Toyota and Honda, Buick and Cadillac, Hyundai and Peugeot. In addition, there are at least 24 Chinese domestic brands, including Chery, Geely, Brilliance, BYD, Great Wall and FAW.

We know, we know: poring over 40-year-old American classics up for auction is all a bit What Pipe and Slippers magazine. But this one is a cracker. Really. This is the 002 chassis Corvette Grand Sport from 1963, set to go up for auction in Arizona early next year.

You might have heard about Essex police filling their diesel cars with petrol. ‘Had other things on their mind’, apparently. Good job, lads. Now let’s just hope the Italian cops don’t make the same mistake.

Shift into gear and floor the pedal as you dragrace against the computer. Tune up your car modify engine buy new cars parts exhaust intake muffler bodykit and more.

Many like me who went to the recently concluded F1 Singtel Grand Prix 2008 just didn't had enough of the action. To spice things up, there are so many pit babes to look out for. It was indeed a very busy evening for many spectators.

Nissan has responded angrily to Porsche’s claims that it faked its astonishing GT-R Nurburgring lap time, and has suggested that Porsche’s test drivers need to ‘get a bit quicker’. Back in May, Nissan reported that its production GT-R had lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in an near-unbelievable 7m29s in the hands of its test driver Tochio Suzuki: a full three seconds quicker than a Porsche GT2, and one of the fastest-ever production times on the ‘Ring.

It's sorta like Pacman except you're a car. And you don't fight little ghosts.

The slang term 'booth babe' has occasionally been used to refer to a trade show model. The term focuses on physical appearance, or specifically on wardrobe, which, depending on the type of trade show, can be thematic or sexy.

Tom Ford drove the new Ferrari California yesterday, and sent us a text about it. Today, he sent us a more slightly more 'proper' review. Via email and everything... 'So I wasn’t convinced by the press shots, and the thought of a more gentle Ferrari made me wince. But, thank the Lord, the California is a brilliant thing. 'The new 7-speed gearbox is ace, the 454bhp V8 engine is torquey, revvy and very, very loud, the handling is tight and extremely Ferrari. It might not be the fastest car in the range, or the most extreme in the ‘sporting’ stakes, but it works and puts a smile on your face just as broad as any of the others. Which is a big win, in my book.

For those of you desperate for the new Bond movie to open in cinemas, good news – the car chase is awesome. Forget whether Daniel Craig is settling into the role, don’t worry about how the genre has moved forward, and just be happy the Aston drive in Quantum of Solace lasts longer than in Casino Royale.

There are a number of women involved in F1 from engineers to PR and there is no fundamental reason why other roles should not be available. As for racing, there should be no hindrance to female drivers - except possible physical strength, but a woman with the right physique should be strong enough to handle the cars.

The day of Top Gears test drive of the £96,290 V12 diesel Audi Q7 just so happened to coincide with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and forecast of an economic depression in the US unseen since 1929. And all this while, that same country is waging bitter and ruinous war on various fronts and imploding over the prospect of a liberal black man getting the keys to the White House. There might have been a better moment for Audi GmbH to launch the world’s most powerful diesel SUV.

Trade show models may be highly skilled at screening the mass of show attendees for target consumers or at obtaining attendee information so that they may be solicited after the show. Attire varies and depends on the nature of the show, and on the image the company would like to portray.

There's more similarity than you might imagine between Mazda and Subaru. Yes, yes, both are Japanese, but that's not the issue here. They've both persevered over the last few years with a USP so tricky it would've seen many a rival call it a day and head forlornly home.

We like the Kia Cee'd here. We really do. Well, apart from the daft spelling. And the looks. So you'd have thought we'd prefer the Pro_cee'd, because apart from the even more ridiculous spelling and under_scoring, this three-door version is much sharper looking.

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For four decades SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, has been at the forefront of the automotive aftermarket - by why limit yourself to performance, appearance and handling of cars, trucks and recreational vehicles when you've also got the many smoking hot bod's as part of the package!

We like the current Honda Jazz very much. So much that we've given it a Car of the Year Award. Twice. Now there is a new Honda Jazz on the way. We think we may like this one even more. Slightly larger than the first-gen Jazz, and with much sleeker styling, it goes on sale in the UK this autumn.

Yes! These hot girls from 2008 Paris Motor Show. They keep walking in front of the production cars and concepts and informing inquisitive journalists of the merits of the vehicles. But it not all what they do here!! Let’s not talk more and just look at these beautiful booth babes…

At the Paris Motor Show in October, Renault has unveiled its new concept car, the Renault Ondelios. This concept car is Renault’s vision of a high-end Cross-Over. The Renault Ondelios is designed to combine a comfortable ride with respect for the environment.

Over on the Lexus stand, the wraps have just come off the IS250C convertible - the posh Toyota with the folding hard-top that'll be gunning straight for the 3-Series convertible when it reaches Europe next summer. In the flesh, it's not good-looking, exactly, but certainly a lot better than the monstrosity that is the SC430.

Striding to the front of our 'Dull but Worthy' Paris show category comes the Suzuki Alto. We've known about the Indian-built A-segment car - and close relative of the Nissan Pixo - for a while, but now we've got some firm information on the drivetrain and othersuch bits and pieces that confirm our initial suspicions: dull but worthy.

We had high hopes for VW's new Golf GTI. Then we saw pictures of it last week. And then we saw it here in Paris. Hardly world-shattering is it? Looks the same as the last one, with the Scirocco's now-not-so-exclusive front end. Yes, they've pushed the front fog lights out to the edges to make it look wider and they've put the twin tail pipes on either side instead of together, but really, we're not amped up about it.

There are some seriously good wheels going on down on the Citroen stand. And none better than those on the C3 Picasso. We know, we know - cool wheels and mini-MPVs don't often occupy the same region of the automotive Venn diagram. But the C3 Picasso is a mini-MPV with a difference, a mini-MPV that you might actually get excited about.

Yes! These hot girls from 2008 Paris Motor Show. They keep walking in front of the production cars and concepts and informing inquisitive journalists of the merits of the vehicles. But it not all what they do here!! Let’s not talk more and just look at these beautiful booth babes…

Ah, now that's a lot better. This is the Megane Coupe, Renault's only-slightly-stretching-the-truth name for the three-door iteration of its new C-segment hatch. We saw the pictures of the five-door a few weeks back, and found it - well, a touch understated, let's put it that way. But the three-door looks much, much better, even in that strange shade of brown. Sorry, 'burnt orange'.

German SUV crossover-Babylon careers onward with the Paris show launch of the BMW X1. Currently labelled a concept, it's absolutely the real thing, and you'll be able to buy it late next year. So BMW will have these things in three sizes: X5, X3 and X1. Oh and then the X6 coupe-thing. You've gotta say that the X1 does make the X3 look messy and old-hat though.

The following is not something that would normally cross your mind when you drive an ‘ordinary’ C63 AMG... “I know what this car could do with – a Performance Pack. The handling’s far too wallowy, and I can’t stand the fact it doesn’t get a limited-slip diff.”

Volkswagen likes to tell us the Golf is the car for everyman, which is a non-gender-specific term also embracing everywoman and running the social spectrum from everytoff to everychav. But truth is, in Britain at least, we all know the Golf is as ineffably middle-class as speech day at a minor public school. How could it be otherwise, given its unchanging small-‘c’ conservative being, and its air of understated superiority? Its very solidity is the four-wheeled embodiment of the mildly smug ‘British reserve’.

The Cadillac CTS-V lapped the Nürburgring in under eight minutes, which is a record for a production saloon. Though do bear in mind that protons are now lapping a circuit of similar length in 0.0009 of a second, albeit they’re not the Malaysian hatchback kind of Proton, and the large hadron collider doesn’t have any corners as tricky as Pflanzgarten. Anyway, by saloon car standards, the CTS-V is a bit of a weapon. Its supercharged engine is related to the one in the Corvette ZR-1, and in this application has the stick to beat the current king of the hill, an Audi RS6, never mind the M5 and CLS AMG. It makes 556 horsepower, and gets to 60 in 3.9 extremely smoky seconds.

Montreal International Auto Show, Canada’s longest running auto event! Hundreds of new vehicles of all types were on display, including 32 models making their official Canadian debuts. The MIAS also played host to five concept cars this year. Korean carmaker Kia was presenting two of them.

Few things in life are constant, but I’d like to add German car face-lifts to the ‘death and taxes’ cliché. Never mind a month, a week doesn’t go by without someone announcing another one. Audi, Mercedes, BMW – they’re all as bad as one another with the minor surgery. The ‘new’ 3-Series is no different. And this is a problem from an enivronmental point of view. BMW is pushing this agenda harder than most, but then imagine the waste and energy required for re-tooling all these minor parts.

Impressive stuff, those nuclear scientists in their giant tunnel under Switzerland, whizzing protons into each other at the speed of light in their quest to discover God and dark matter and how to scare those of us who don’t understand physics.

During yesterday's press briefing, General Motors let its upcoming Saab 9X Air concept out of the bag ahead of its official debut at the Paris Motor Show, and today we finally have official pics and details of the new Swedish open air coupe.

We were totally buying Hamann's line about "form follows function," right up until the point we saw the roof scoop on the tuner's Aston Martin V8 Vantage package. That aside, the kit from Hamann is one of the most comprehensive we've seen, implementing an array of aerodynamic, handing and engine mods to take the baby Aston to the next level.

It’s almost auto show season, and in celebration we’d like to take this time to honor one of the greatest accessories ever invented for the modern automobile: the Auto Show Girl.

Maranello, 29th September The Ferrari stand at the Paris Auto Show will host the official unveiling of the new Ferrari California, the stunning coup-cabriolet that has created such expectation amongst both those in the industry and the public at large.