By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada

PARIS – Based on the number of electric-powered concepts that debuted here at this year’s Mondial de l'Automobile 2012 — a.k.a. the Paris Motor Show — you would think the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine was as dead as silent movies. Mercedes-Benz alone showed-off three EV's: the compact B-Class Electric Drive, the SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive super car and the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive city car. The question is: Who is going to buy them?

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Well, that's a bit of a shock... it appears that Formula 1 driver and ex-champion Lewis Hamilton is leaving McLaren and heading to Mercedes-Benz for 2013. Hamilton's only ever driven for McLaren during his F1 tenure, and was picked out very early in his karting career by old team boss Ron Dennis with the full expectation that he'd be the 'next big thing'. That worked out when Hamilton won his F1 driver's championship back in 2008, but McLaren haven't been able to get him higher than fourth in the years following. This season has been especially frustrating for Hamilton because there were plenty of missed opportunities during crucial pit stops and other situations that left the driver watching someone else win.

Mercedes-Benz claims an extended relationship to Hamilton as well, although that's mainly because they also provide McLaren with F1 engines. Anyway, MB's team boss Ross Brawn is a master strategist and the man behind all of Michael Schumacher's driving records and championships at Benneton and Ferrari, and must be thrilled to have Hamilton on tap for 2013.

It didn't take McLaren long to announce Hamilton's replacement either: Sergio Perez, a 22 year old from Mexico, who won his first race with the Sauber team earlier this year in only his second year in Formula 1. 

But back to Mercedes-Benz... Hamilton will be teammates with Nico Rosberg and not Michael Schumacher, who for the first time in his career is (involuntarily) without an F1 ride for next year. Perhaps that should be the biggest clue for Schumacher, the man whose legacy in F1 can never be disputed, should finally hang up his boots in open-wheel racing. I'm sure any manufacturer with a lick of sense would pick him up for a stint in sports cars or prototypes, perhaps back to Le Mans. Who knows?

Photos courtesy Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz

By David Menzies for MSN Autos

OK, forgive me in advance if I grind your gears with the following rant. But I simply cannot keep my ever-revving motor mouth in Park anymore when it comes to an automotive anomaly that is making my grey matter overheat: namely, the blight on our roadways that is the silver/grey Toyota Corolla.

Yes, I’m cognizant that in our touchy-feely era we aren’t supposed to embrace profiling. But like the umpire behind home plate, your correspondent calls ’em like he sees ’em. And this is what I’m seeing: whenever I encounter a driving sin, the vast majority of times, the car causing the commotion is a silver/grey Corolla.

Sorry, but if it was cherry-red Challengers or almond-hued Accords, I would single out those cars. But the misery is being generated by the silver/grey Corolla.

Examples:

When I enter a highway merge ramp, I rapidly advance upon the taillights of the vehicle ahead. That vehicle, nine times out of 10, is a silver/grey Corolla. It will be travelling at 40 km/h on the merge ramp. What’s the deal with that? In less than 400 metres the lane will end and Corolla Gal will have to join traffic going at a 120 km/h clip. Does she not see this? Does she think this is the proper way to merge? Does she believe all the other highway motorists will slow down and allow a car doing one-third of the highway speed squeeze in, no muss, no fuss? I look in my rear view mirror. It seems like a parade is forming. Buddy honks his horn – but how can I communicate to him that I’m not the merging moron but rather, there’s a silver/grey Corolla ahead of me? Yes, ahead of me. Oh, the horror ...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Bentley is one of the few auto manufacturers to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans more than once, including a string of four-in-a-row between 1927-'31. It successfully returned to Le Mans in the early '00s with help from corporate parent Audi, winning overall in a Speed 8 EXP prototype after three years of trying.

Things have been quiet on the Bentley racing front for almost a decade, until now. The company is embracing the FIA's popular GT3-spec class that currently sees cars like the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Audi R8 BMW Z4, Porsche 911, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ford GT, Chevrolet Camaro, McLaren MP-12C, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and more. And the vehicle it's picking to convert to racing spec?

The Continental GT Speed.

Confused about how a ginormous GT car is going to mix it up with the smaller and more nimble sports cars? Well, in some ways it makes sense. The original 'Bentley Boys' used hulking Bentley 4½ Litre models as their steeds, which were like locomotives compared to the lithe machines from Bugatti and Alfa Romeo.

Now, there are most definitely serious modifications needed to make Bentley's heavyweight cruise missile suitable for track action, but the most serious is a weight reduction of nearly 2,000 pounds. I guess all the inch-thick carpets and hand-sewn leathers - not to mention the rear seat - are missing in action. Lightweight construction, body modifications, vents, new suspension, brakes, transmission, etc. Oh, and that wing...

The biggest change will be the adoption of rear-wheel drive, something mandated by the series and adopted by rivals like the R8 and Nissan GTR. No word on how much power the 6.0-litre W12 engine will produce, but the FIA goes through a painstaking parity process before every season to ensure that it'll be the drivers who make the difference.

Chances are we'll see them back at Le Mans in the not-so-distant future... Can't wait!

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Given the tiny, slow and unremarkable cars used during most driving courses - mine was a refrigerator-white early-'90s Nissan Sentra - it's no wonder interest in getting a driver's licence amongst today's teens is lowering every year. Who wants to get spotted behind the wheel of a Fiesta or Sonic, or - most probably - a beige Corolla.

Well, what if the car used was a nice shiny sliver Mercedes-Benz? Well, that'd be pretty decent, then, wouldn't it? 

That's exactly what Mercedes-Benz will be doing in Canada when it launches its Teen Driving program in early 2013. Combining in-class and e-learning techniques that worked so well in the United Kingdom (pass rates amongst graduates nearly doubled from a national average of 43 per cent to 79 per cent), 'Benz will open the doors first in Vancouver.

The driving instructors will also be the same one who currently do the regular Mercedes-Benz and AMG Driving Academy schools, so there'll be highly experienced teachers ready to teach the finer arts of traffic survival.

Let's just say we're surprised it took this long...

By David Menzies for MSN Autos

Wow. Didn’t see this one coming, but can’t say I’m surprised: the Ontario coroner is joining Toronto’s top doctor in calling for a rollback in speed limits to... (wait for it, folks! Not so fast! Hold your horsepower!) 30 km/h an hour on residential streets and 40 km/h on other roads.

That’s right: 30 and 40. Kilometres, not miles.

That’s fast – for a bicycle.

Carol Shelby just screamed from the grave.

The idiotic speed reduction suggestion is one of 26 recommendations from the Coroner’s Pedestrian Death Review.

“The data is irrefutable,” says Dr. Bert Lauwers, deputy chief coroner and chair of the review. “The higher the rate of speed at which a pedestrian is struck, the greater the chance of death.”

Ah, the ol’ speed kills adage...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

This might seem like nagging at this point given how many times we've posted on the subject, but the actions of a few local drivers today drove me to the keyboard in frustration yet again.

The last few mornings have been extremely foggy thanks to near-freezing nights and the relatively warm water flowing in the St. John River. The major two-lane that most people use around here is always busy during commute times, although rarely bumper-to-bumper. But no matter what the conditions - rain, snow, fog, frogs - the percentage of people who actually turn on their full lighting system is ridiculously low. Just trusting the front daytime running lights will be enough doesn't cut it, especially during pea-soup-thick fog like today.

Big trucks aren't much better... Truck drivers pride themselves on being safer thanks to the tens of thousands of kilometres they drive every year, but there were several today that were flying blind with no lights on whatsoever. This included a dirty grey dumptruck with a sizable trailer in an equally dark shade that came out of the fog and disappeared again with very little warning.

We have safety campaigns about seatbelt use and impaired driving - what can we do to lobby for a 'lights on at all times' reminder? Lobby governments? Get informed? Let us know in the comments.

Photo courtesy utpal at sxc.hu

By David Menzies for MSN Autos

Some say revenge is an art form. Just ask the YouTube user who goes by the handle, “Bacon Moose.”
Moose was so peeved over receiving a traffic fine of US$137 he decided to embrace the origami in a somewhat vengeful way by carefully folding each dollar bill into a tiny origami pig. He then delivered the herd of 137 paper oinkers to the local municipal court in two Dunkin Donut boxes, covertly filming the proceedings.

It was Moose’s way of creatively protesting what he says is "a town where the cops and absurd redlight cameras are pretty much a money trap.”

You gotta give ol’ Bacon Moose props: he is a patient man given he spent about six hours folding those 137 dollar bills into individual origami pigs.

And covertly videoing the surreal exchange between himself, the clerk and later a police officer proves quite entertaining.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Remember the negative-style rendering we showed you back in July of the upcoming Rondo Kia would be showing in Paris? Well, we finally have our hands on some 'real' images of what the people-mover will look like when it hits the street.

Obviously, the design between these and the upcoming Forte line is very strong, but don't forget that the Rondo will still be a five- or seven-seater mini-minivan. We'd guess the optional V6 is as dead as the original Rondo, leaving a regular and turbocharged four-cylinder as the prime motivators. 

No photos of the interior yet, but we'd guess it'll be done in typical new-Kia blacks and greys with good materials and a European flair.

So given that the second-gen Rondo is almost certainly coming to Canada, if you were in the market for a mini-mini, which one would you choose? The Mazda5 with its convenienet sliding doors and athletic responses, the Chevrolet Orlando with the most room and quieter cabin, or the Rondo?

Let us know.