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Volkswagen Group names Paefgen head of classics program

You may remember the name Franz-Josef Paefgen. Until recently, the German engineer and executive was head of both Bentley and Bugatti. Before that he was chief executive of Audi, after working for several years at Ford. He technically "retired" earlier this year, but like the cars he helped create, an executive like Paefgen could never really retire. So it should come as little surprise that the Volkswagen Group has named Dr. Paefgen head of its Classic program.
In his new capacity, Paefgen will oversee the historic automobile activities of the entire VW Group, including those of Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Lamborghini, and of course Bentley and Bugatti. It strikes us as a suitable semi-retirement for the man responsible in no small part for the Bugatti Veyron and Bentley Mulsanne, to name just two, and who was decorated in 2006 by the ACO as the "Spirit of Le Mans" for his contribution to endurance racing. Read the official announcement after the break.

Lamborghini owner forgives teen for using car as a bike ramp

A teenager in Singapore got off shockingly easy after he was caught on camera riding his bike across the hood of a Lamborghini last week. According to The New Paper, Izzadnaff Abdul Qusyairl was on his way to play some games at a local arcade in Bedok, Singapore, when he saw a bright yellow Lamborghini Gallardo parked outside of Bedok Stadium. Being a dumb teenager, Izzadnaff decided to pull a stunt he saw on YouTube. Izzadnaff rode his bike up the hood and over the top of the Lambo. Unfortunately for him, the Lambo's dashcam was on and caught him in the act. The Lambo's owner, Aaron Keder, uploaded the footage to Facebook, kicking off an internet manhunt for the young cyclist. Qusyairl's mother got wind of the situation and quickly took matters into her own hands by first giving her son a stern talking to and then contacting Keder through a mutual friend. "Izzadnaff is usually obedient. I don't know what happened to him that day," she told New Paper. "He was very afraid to admit to his mistake after that, but I told him that he had done something wrong, so he had to stand up and admit his mistake." Thankfully, Keder seemed to have a good sense of humor about the incident and agreed to sit down with the abashed teen and sort the situation out. "I met the family on Sunday afternoon and we have resolved the issue," said Keder. "All I wanted was an explanation from the boy and to know how he felt when he went on top of my car. I also wanted him to know that what he had done was wrong and not to repeat it."Related Video: Image Credit: Caddy Viral / YouTube Auto News Weird Car News Lamborghini singapore stunts bmx lambo gallardo

Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari 512M and more immortalized as Lego sets

Lego has announced a slew of new Speed Champions sets, the ones based on actual licensed cars, for 2022. The latest batch includes a smorgasbord of supercars, from beloved classics like the Lamborghini Countach to yet-to-be-released promises like the long-awaited Mercedes-AMG One. There are seven cars in total, released in five sets.  Our favorite is probably the 262-piece Lamborghini Countach, based on a later LP500 variant. Not only does it tick the box of a childhood dream machine, but the angular shape of the real-life Countach lends itself well to being recreated in Lego bricks. Also, it's modeled in white rather than the typical red. Lego Speed Champions Ferrari 512M 1 View 6 Photos We also really dig the Ferrari 512M. It marked the last of Ferrari's V12 endurance racers, and even though it was soundly spanked by the Porsche 917, the cars are undeniably beautiful. The 291-piece Lego set does a great job of capturing its brutal wedge silhouette in brick form. Lego Speed Champions Lotus Evija 1 View 5 Photos Rounding out the single-car sets is the 247-piece Lotus Evija. The electric Lotus has a bit of a generic supercar look about it, but that's not entirely the fault of the Lego kit. Its dramatic vents can't really be replicated with the limited "resolution" of the Lego bricks. Its rear, with unique taillight-encircled air tunnels, is a bit more distinctive. Lego Speed Champions Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR & Vantage GT3 1 View 7 Photos In addition to the single car sets, there are two larger sets of two cars each. One is a 592-piece Aston Martin-themed pack that includes the Valkyrie AMR Pro and Vantage GT3. Again, it's a bit difficult to sculpt the cars' curvaceous lines out of straight-edged bricks, but the effort is admirable. The Valkyrie is probably the more successful of the two, as the Vantage would resemble a Corvette or Viper if it didn't have stickers to clarify the details. Lego Speed Champions Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance & Project One 01 View 9 Photos Last but not least is a twofer comprised of 564 bricks to build the Mercedes-AMG One and seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton's W12 racer. In Lego's official product description the driver is not mentioned by name, but the number 44 gives it away. The model of the One indeed looks like a sharp supercar, but the blocky pieces don't exactly replicate the lines we've seen on camouflaged test mules.