At the end of last week, BMW informed us that its Vision EfficientDynamics [ED] green sports car concept would become a reality and be available for sale as early as 2013. Along with the announcement and the release of new photographic material, the Bavarian automaker also published a fresh video featuring an early prototype version of the diesel-electric-powered Vision ED. To watch the new promotional film, hit the jump below.

Balboa Park is one of San Diego's most visited tourist attractions. And if you like cars, you should definitely check it out, because the Automotive Museum houses more than 80 historic cars and motorcycles. As if that wasn't enough, special exhibitions, held every two or three months, display other fine vehicles.

Here's the second and last part of our photo collection from the 2010 edition of the Specialty Equipment Market Association - better known as SEMA, which came to an end on Friday, November 5. Once again, we have a ton of cars and trucks of all sorts of tunes and colors, some of which may be to your taste, some not. Either way, to browse our high-resolution gallery, simply follow the jump.

It's hard to believe, but the Murci�lago has been around since 2001. Few, if any, will disagree with us when we say that Lamborghini's supercar still looks as fresh and is alluring as the first day it was introduced. But unfortunately, as good as it may be, all things come to an end. For the Raging Bull brand's most prominent member, the end came in May 2010 with the production of the last example, an LP 670-4 Superveloce in "Arancio Atlas" paintwork with the production number 4,099, which was sold to a Swiss customer.

Being that time goes by in a different way for a "boutique" automaker like Lamborghini, it doesn't surprise us that the Italian firm celebrated the end of production several months later. The festivities took place in the company's factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese on November 5, 2010, with a special exhibition of the most iconic V12 cars of Lamborghini's history, followed by a parade on the road.

A little over a year after the presentation of the Vision EfficientDynamics [ED] concept study at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, and following a month-long tease of what turned out to be an early prototype mule with the body of a 6-Series of the plug-in hybrid on the 'Dontblogaboutthis' website (see pictures below), BMW today officially confirmed plans to build a production version of the eco-friendly sports car.

"There was a widespread desire to put the car on the road, and the realisation of this desire is moving considerably closer," the Bavarian firm said in a statement. And by this, BMW means it will have the Vision ED on the road and ready for sale in 2013.

"By developing a sports car based on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept study for serial production, the Munich-based premium automobile manufacturer underscores its position as a global leader in the production of sporty vehicles with exemplary efficiency," said BMW.

If we were to write up an article for every single car presented at the 2010 SEMA Show a) it would take us until Christmas to finish up and b) you'd be flooding our comments and email box with French brickbats... Our alternative solution is to bring you two mega galleries with a sample of the tuned vehicles that made their way to the halls of the Las Vegas Convention center. Scroll down to enjoy the first part and stay tuned on Carscoop for part deux.

After 84 years, Pontiac, the once proud maker of American icons such as the Trans Am and GTO, breathed its last breath on Monday with the sale of the last remaining new cars. The closure comes one year after General Motors announced that it would terminate the brand as part of a restructuring plan.

Even though production of the last Pontiac, the Vibe, ended in August 2009, there were many new cars left in stock, so a deal was struck with dealers who received official backing to sell them. The agreement ended on Sunday, so Pontiac fans didn't actually get any treats for Halloween, only the confirmation that their favorite manufacturer is really dead.

Well, it's done. The world's most famous Aston Martin was sold last week for a whopping �2,912,000 (US$4,608,500) by RM Auctions of London. The price includes a �30,000 tailored suit by Gieves & Hawkes of Savile Row (who dressed Sean Connery from Dr No to Diamonds are Forever) and a 7 night stay for 10 guests at Ian Fleming's former estate in Jamaica, valued at �40,000.

The new owner is an American business man by the name of Harry Yeaggy, who plans to put the car on public display in Ohio. Don't feel too sorry for the Aston's seller and only other ex-factory owner, Philadelphia radio broadcaster Jerry Lee, though. He's got a good return on his original investment of $12,000 in 1969 (equal to around US$71,400 in today's money, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics), all of which will be going to his self-named charity.

The 1964 Aston Martin DB5 should need no introduction. It was driven by Sean Connery's James Bond in Goldfinger and Thunderball and is probably one of the most iconic cars to ever grace the silver screen. This particular example comes with the trademark Silver Birch exterior and dark grey (not black) interior trim and a 282 bhp (210 kw) 4.0 L inline six mated to a 5sp manual transmission.

Vilner, who recently took it upon themselves to redo the interior of a Hennessey SRT600 Grand Cherokee, has now unleashed their interior-modifying skills on the new Camaro. Thank God, because it most definitely needs some fancy-pants stuff like this on the inside in order to take on the Mustang.

For this project, Vilner took a Silver Ice V6 Camaro and then added its own special magic to the seats, dash, ceiling, and all the rest. Instead of the common black plastic and leather found in most Camaros, Vilner's pony car wears "nubuck, aged nappa, and chrome" in its passenger compartment.

There's a redesigned steering wheel with better grips, too. Yeah, that's nice, but I'm still staring at all the leather. Why? Because it looks like a million bucks.

Mercedes has released a larger-than-life gallery with 101 high resolution photos of the F800 Style, a concept sports saloon we first laid eyes on at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show. The compact-sized F800 was created to preview the German manufacturer's new design language, as seen later on the new CLS, which made its world debut in Paris last month.

Mercedes-Benz has published a bevy of pictures of its next-generation SLK hardtop roadster during endurance testing in the heat of Death Valley to show off the upcoming model's panoramic glass-roof with Magic Sky Control [MSC].

Driving with the top down is not always an option. There might be clear blue skies, but temperatures could be also very low. Other times the car's interior gets way too hot if it has a panoramic glass roof. Either way, your drive is ruined.

And this is where the Magic Sky Control system comes into the picture. A roughly 2,000 euro (US $2,772) option for the next generation SLK, the MSC is, in essence, a panoramic roof that can be made either transparent or darkened, just by pushing a button.

When you see "world record" and "Lamborghini Murcielago" in the same sentence, in a tuner's press release, usually something extreme follows, with out-of-this-world power and speed being pretty safe bets.

But that's not how Unicate does things. The German tuner pushed the envelope in a different way with this Yeniceri Edition Murcielago. This here example of Sant' Agata's supercar has the biggest tires ever fitted to a Murcielago.

Just today, we learned that Skoda delivered a record number of vehicles in the first nine months of 2010, increasing its operating profit by a whopping 64%. This is what most people know about the Czech automaker; that it has been a wild success since Volkswagen took over the reins of the company. But there are others -myself included- who think the real glory of Skoda lies in its past.

The last time we heard from Heide Performance Products (HPP), the Michigan-based tuner showcased a Daytona conversion for Dodge's Challenger. Keeping with the vintage theme, HPP is now ready to show its next pony car conversion - a Camaro-based Trans-Am kit - at this year's SEMA show in Vegas.

As with all the other Firebird body kits out there (Lingenfelter's, ASC's, etc), HPP's version does its best to bring back the good-ol' days of the screaming chicken. The results, as with any "we're selling you memories" conversion, vary.

Regarding the proposition of selling this conversion (for anything other than the collectability factor), I don't see a point. Pontiac is D-E-A-D, it's not coming back, and that means anyone's "new" Trans-Am will forever be a Chevy wearing a costume. It's similar to having a Plymouth nameplate on a modern Chrysler or Dodge; the vintage naming works for the Daytona, but not for the Superbird.

In addition to being one of Fiat's most important markets, the Italian automaker is also getting ready to celebrate its 35 years in Brazil next year, so it comes to no surprise that the company is exhibiting a total of 30 vehicles at this week's Sao Paulo Auto Show. The Uno Cabrio and Mio [or FCC 111] concept models and the new Uno Sporting and Bravo production models, are among the highlights of Fiat's display.

Beginning with the Uno Cabrio, this concept study is a two-seater drop top variant of the South American market Uno supermini. In addition to losing the Uno's top and rear seats, the quirky looking roadster model also sports an aggressive bodykit with newly designed front and rear bumpers and a set of 17-inch alloy wheels.

The engine of choice is the same one as of Punto T-Jet, a 152HP 1.4-liter turbo which is capable of carrying the Cabrio to a top speed close to 200 km/h [124mph].

Citro�n's CEO of Asian operations, Gregoire Olivier, has revealed that the company is planning a production version of the beautifully styled Metropolis concept car to compete against German luxury brands, primarily in China.

The sporty looking limousine, which will most likely be called the DS9, will be built by PSA/Peugeot-Citro�n's joint venture with Changan Automobile Group in China.

"The Metropolis will happen -- it will become a real car," Olivier told Autonews China on the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai. "The same styling elements will be used for a high-level Citroen car to be developed in China. We want to build up the premier line in China -- the Metropolis is emblematic of our approach."

Driving in the snow can be a lot of fun if you know what you're doing. But not everyone is an ace behind the wheel and even if they are, there's always room for improvement. Enter BMW's Winter Driving Experience event that offers special training courses all over Europe, in a variety of road conditions.

For starters there's the BMW Snow Intensive Training course in S�lden (Austria), where you can fine tune your braking and steering technique driving the new BMW X3, 5-Series and the M3, on both uphill and downhill routes.

After mastering the basics, you can switch to the BMW Snow Drift Training, also held in S�lden, where you can drift for a half a day in a 420 hp M3, yodeling all the way.

Wrapping up our preview on the Chrysler Group's 2010 SEMA Show offerings, we've grouped up the rest of Mopar's products in a gallery after the jump. All in all, Chrysler's in-house tuning division will showcase a total of 35 vehicles in Las Vegas.

Aside from the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 and RedLine Charger, and Fiat 500 that we've already told you about in previous posts, it's worth mentioning that Mopar is reading a luxed-up version of the 2011 Dodge Durango called "Black and Tan" as well as an "Off-Road Edition" of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Last month we told you about the revised for the 2011 model year, Subaru Forester SUV, which benefits from an all new naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter boxer engine with a chain driven double overhead cam and an output of 170HP and 174 lb-ft. of torque.

As you may remember from our previous post, we didn't have any photos of the 2011MY, but now, the Japanese automaker has released a gallery giving us the chance to see the new grille and alloy wheel designs -but oddly enough, not the revised instrument panel- of the updated Forester models. Follow the jump to check out all the pictures.

Let's face it: buying a supercar is hard. They're expensive, they're hard to insure and if you crash one you're bound to see it posted on Carscoop. So what do you do if you crave the supercar looks but can't stomach the supercar hang-ups? You buy an Italian knockoff, that's what.

This here is the Lavazza GTX-R and yes, it does look a lot like a Ferrari Enzo (with a pinch of Pagani) if you squint...and are drunk...and are wearing sunglasses...at night. Ahem.

If you read the Italian version of the site, power comes from a BMW-sourced 5.4-liter V12 producing 489HP that can accelerate the GTX-R from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in just 4.3 seconds. However, the English-language page makes word of the same V12 with 620HP but a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.6 seconds. Go figure...