After keeping the original 1955 Lincoln Futura concept-based Batmobile from the 1966 television series in his personal collection for more than six decades, legendary customizer George Barris has decided it's time to let go of the iconic car offering it up for sale at this weekend's Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The famous bat car will cross the auction block alongside Barrett-Jackson’s 5000 Series on Saturday, January 19th from 5:00pm to 9:00pm.

It is anyone's guess how high bidders will value the original version of the 1966 Batmobile (Barris had also built a few more fiberglass clones during the 1960s, some of which were used in the series), but feel free to speculate by casting your vote in our online ballot, while you can also be more specific in our comments area.

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The new Ford Atlas Concept, which previews the future of America's best-selling pickup truck for the past 36 years and the best-selling vehicle overall for 31 straight years, the F-150, has been named by the editors of Autoweek magazine, the "Most Significant vehicle of the 2013 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS)".

Bob Gritzinger, Autoweek executive editor, explains why:

“The Atlas Concept is clearly Most Significant winner for the things you don’t see, like hidden aerodynamic improvements and weight savings from high-strength steel and interior parts, like thinner seats. Those things add up to significant fuel savings for pickup trucks down the road. A next-generation EcoBoost with Auto Start-Stop technology also signals why Atlas is a real game changer.”

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It’s like the Super Bowl for Detroit-made sports cars: the brand-new Corvette Stingray, which just made its world premiere in Detroit this week, versus Chrysler’s third-generation SRT Viper.

Granted, in their current forms, the two cars are separated by tens of thousands of dollars and nearly 200hp, with the base Vette’s 450hp 6.2L V8 looking puny compared to the Viper’s massive 8.4L V10 with 640-ponies. Conducting a fair twin-test won’t be possible until Chevrolet rolls out the next Corvette Stingray ZR1.

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Three very different schools of automotive thought came together at a Cars and Coffee meeting in Irvine, California, a couple of weeks ago, for a mechanical symphony comprised of 32 cylinders, 19.7-liters and a whopping 1,884-horses.

Thankfully, the revving competition between the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, 2013 SRT Viper and the Lexus LFA was captured on film by several visitors for our enjoyment.

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Europe may be in trouble but many of its automakers are performing just fine and the rest of the world seems to be doing okay, as global new car sales are tipped to exceed 80 million units for the first time ever.

Therefore, you could say that 2012 has been a good year for the automotive industry, which rolled out a whole lot of new models.

With only three days to go until the end of the year, we found ourselves asking out loudly: which newly presented production and concept vehicles impressed us the most?

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Back in May of 2009, General Motors issued the first ever recall for its then new, fifth generation Camaro that was sold as a 2010 model, only a few weeks after launch.

The recall affected 1,243 Camaro SS coupes equipped with a V8 engine because of a short-circuit risk that could lead to a fire. The culprit was a positive battery cable that could rub against the starter motor housing causing wear on the cable insulation.

In all recall cases, the automaker directly or through one of its dealers, contacts owners of the affected models to inform them about the problem and how and when it will be fixed (which is stated in GM's Recall Bulletin that you can find below).

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From the time GM linked its Opel and Buick brands, whenever the German company comes out with a new model, the question arises whether the Detroit automaker should bring it to North America.

Currently, of the six Buick vehicles sold in the States, three are based on Opel models: the Verano compact sedan (Astra Sedan), the Regal mid-size saloon (Insignia) and the Encore small crossover (Mokka).

This week, Opel and its British sibling Vauxhall lifted the wraps off a new model, the Cascada soft-top convertible born from Astra and Insignia underpinnings.

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On Tuesday, Cadillac added another piece to the puzzle that is the new ELR plug-hybrid coupe by announcing that the car will be manufactured at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant with production to start in late 2013.

We already know that the ELR will be closely based on Cadillac's 2009 Converj Concept and that it will borrow much of its extended-range electric technology from the Chevy Volt, combining a T-shaped lithium-ion battery with an electric drive unit and an unspecified four-cylinder engine working as a generator to power the electric motor.

What we assumed, but didn't know for sure, is whether the ELR would keep the same front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout as the Volt or if Cadillac would engineer a new platform with a front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration.

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A casual traffic stop over an inoperative brake light by a police officer in Dearborn, Michigan, on August 3, 2012, took a weird twist when the cop discovered that the passenger of the 1999 GMC Jimmy was HIV positive.

The police dashboard video that was obtained by national news network The American Independent, and which was released in late September, shows Dearborn Police Officer David Lacey pulling the truck to the side of the road and then approaching the driver, Mark Scott, and asking for his papers.

Scott told the Michigan cop that he did not have his license with him and that he may have a warrant for his arrest related to a traffic ticket. He then handed Lacey another piece of identification.

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