Vintage Texaco Flasher - 550 Nos on 2040-parts.com

Tesla pays off its government loans

Tesla paid off the last of its $465 million government loans May 22, nine years ahead of schedule, thus outperforming most U.S. college graduates and the vast majority of American homeowners. Tesla used funds from a stock offering to finish the loan with a whopping bank transfer of $451.8 million Wednesday, pointing out that it was “…the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.” Apparently no one at Tesla was even born when Lee Iacocca paid off Chrysler's $1.2-billion government bailout ahead of schedule back in 1983.

Dramatic design on tap for next-generation model

Jaguar’s next-generation XJ luxury sedan will incorporate design features from the C-XF concept first shown at Detroit, AutoWeek has learned. Although prototypes captured by spy photographers are disguised with BMW-style grilles, the face of the new 2010 XJ will feature Jag’s gaping square grille and a curvaceous body with a rakish, coupelike rear window. The final XJ incorporates slim headlights with double-projector lenses that are very close in design to those revealed on the dramatic C-XF shown at the 2007 North American International Auto Show.

One Lap of the Web: Exotic car dealerships, fake Ferraris and the Renault R5 Turbo

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. -- Meet the real-life Little Old Lady from Pasadena courtesy of YouTube as this "60-something" lady roasts the meats on her C63 AMG Benz.