Black L Troy Lee Designs Se3 Team Helmet 2013 Model on 2040-parts.com

Maybach reaches end of the line

Daimler AG is set to announce the closure of its Maybach ultra luxury brand this weekend, according to reports. The underperforming 57 and 62 limousines are to be killed off in 2013, following a decision from chairman Dieter Zetsche who has elected not to invest in their respective replacements for 2014. Following a concept car preview at the 1997 Tokyo motor show, Maybach was resurrected in 2002 after Daimler AG failed to purchase either Rolls-Royce or Bentley from then owners, Vickers.

Opel Ampera preview

Opel has released a teaser sketch of its new five-door extended-range electric car ahead of its public debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. Based on the Voltec powertrain and chassis architecture of Chevrolet's Volt, the Ampera promises to surpass that car in terms of style by some margin. The body appears to be nearly identical between the A- and C-pillars, but the deformed horseshoe-shaped headlamp design and two-bar grille come straight from the 2007 Flextreme concept, as do the car's tree-branch alloy wheels.

One Lap of the Web: Dying wishes, Euro cars and worst traffic jam in history

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we’re not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there’s more out there than we’d ever be able to cover, here’s our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. If you’d like to start the day off with a good cry, read about 17-year-old Zach Sobiech over at Autoblog.