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Topiary Joe sculpts the ultimate in green cars

Efficient cars are all the rage these days, but Joe Kyte has made a business of crafting some of the coolest green cars around – literally. Kyte is better known by his nickname Topiary Joe, and in addition to being a talented artist, he is also a real gearhead. Kyte has been creating topiaries for the last 20 years. It began when he was marketing greenhouse products to Walt Disney World and saw their plant sculptures. He realized that he could do that and since then, has done around 3,400 pieces. His most intriguing creations are the rolling sculptures that move and turn. Prices for those start at about $18,000 and can be as high as $30,000. While, the wheels are machine-bent, Kyte said all the other parts are done with a table vice and a Lincoln Electric arc welder. Topiary Joe is taking the Porsche (pictured above) to Palm Beach later this year to sell or says he may donate it to Porsche North America. If you really want it, the sculpture is currently on Craigslist for sale for $24,000. Topiary Joe has also had a life-long love of cars. "I was driving my first MG Midget before I was 14," he told Autoblog. He grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, where the Manhattan Project was partially developed. He says the town was full of recent college grads driving Mercedes, and he caught the bug. His automotive mentor was a nuclear physicist who taught him to repair and restore the Mercs. Kyte has completed commissions for Sandals Resort, Dreamworks, Absolut, and many more. Among his favorite creations is the Ferrari that he created at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that is now exhibited at the airport each year before the race. Check out his website for a wider look at his work.

Kawasaki H2R races Bugatti Veyron, MP4-12C, and 1,350-hp GT-R

The Kawasaki Ninja H2R ranks among the modern marvels of the production motorcycle world. The bike is only for the track, but with a 1.0-liter, supercharged, four-cylinder engine making 300 horsepower, it's ludicrously quick. Super Street decided to put that acceleration to the test by staging a half-mile race against a Bugatti Veyron with the 1,200-hp tune from the Super Sport. We aren't going to spoil the winner, but according to Super Street this bike is the only H2R that Kawasaki USA currently has. The magazine also staged similar races against a McLaren MP4-12C and a Nissan GT-R with a claimed 1,350 hp, and you can check them both out below. If you're curious to read more about this event, there's an in-depth piece online about it all, as well.

Bugatti teases Chiron again, shows and tells us nothing

The television spots Infiniti released in the eighties for the original Q45 still carry the torch for arcane teaser commercials, but Bugatti might try to steal some of that light this year. The Franco-German automaker released a 41-second teaser video for the Chiron with quick-cut shots of just about everything except the supercar. The fighter jet, the volcano, even the guy running on top of the sideways skyscraper we get, since the tagline is "Breaking new dimensions." But the elevator and the drummer? We already know the rumor that it's going to break the Veyron Super Sport's terminal velocity, hitting something above 290 miles per hour. Continuing the theme of tweaks that advance the entire package, it's been reported that an analog speedometer will keep track of that vitesse with hash marks running all the way to 500 kilometers per hour, taking the place of the centrally-placed tachometer. Cabin ergonomics should take a step up, while a larger windshield will improve visibility, and the seating position moves outward to become more conventional. Oh, and since the car is named after French auto racer Louis Chiron and not the mythological Greek centaur, it is pronounced Shir-on, not Kai-ron. You can check out the latest teaser in the video above - at 41 seconds, the spot is about a second less than the time it took the standard Veyron to hit its top speed. Related Video: