Missed Shift? American Top Gear struggles to find its own identity

"What happened to Top Gear?" my favorite bartender asked this past weekend. "Somebody took the BBC's scripts and wrote Tanner, Rutledge and Adam over cues which previously said Jeremy, Richard and James," I replied. It's an easy sideswipe I admit, but for me--and I'm guessing for the automotive enthusiasts who constitute AutoWeek's audience--it largely tells the tale.

Infiniti and Red Bull deal set to expand

Infiniti set to get deeper in to bed with Red Bull We’ve not been the biggest fans of Infiniti’s marketing efforts in the UK and Europe, but we had to concede that the decision for Infiniti to sponsor Red Bull in F1 had its upside. That upside is the decision to build the Infiniti FX50 Sebastian Vettel Edition as a production car, and the news that the feedback from the Vettel car will lead to a range of IPL (Infiniti Performance Line) cars which will be to Infiniti what AMG is to Mercedes and ‘M’ is to BMW. So the news that Infiniti is to up the ante with increased Red Bull sponsorship is good news, probably both for Infiniti and Red Bull.

Artega SE & GT (2011) at the Geneva motor show

German sports car maker Artega brought the current GT and the SE, an electric version of the obscure man’s Cayman, to the 2011 Geneva motor show. Artega… remind me who they are again? Artega was founded in 2006 in Dalbruch, Germany with the involvement of Karl Heinz Kalbfell, a well-known industry executive formerly of BMW, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo and Maserati (he’s now at Lotus).