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Rowan Atkinson selling his McLaren F1 for $12M

Likely most associated in the US with his portrayal as the bumbling Mr. Bean, British comedian Rowan Atkinson has been quite an auto fanatic for years, making several appearances and at least one crash at the Goodwood Revival. When not racing or acting, he's known for driving a dark purple McLaren F1, but the supercar is now up for sale. Atkinson isn't just giving it away, though, with an asking price of 8 million pounds ($12 million). Atkinson bought the iconic McLaren new in 1997 but has crashed it at least twice since then. The first was a low-speed hit with an Austin Metro in 1999, but a shunt in 2011 did much more harm. McLaren Special Operations reportedly estimated the cost to rebuild the F1 at 910,000 pounds, and Atkinson's insurance company paid to have it done, according to the Western Daily Press in the UK. Now, the McLaren is up for sale by broker Taylor and Crawley with 41,000 miles on it, though it's not pictured on the company's website, as of this writing. "Apart from the accidents, I think Rowan has enjoyed every minute with the F1 and I think he will have withdrawal when it is gone," said David Clark, owner of Taylor and Crawley, to the Western Daily Press. The price of Atkinson's F1 is certainly eye watering. One sold in the UK for about $5.6 million in 2012 and a GTR version went for $5.28 million in 2014. Gooding and Company even estimated one at $12-$14 million during the Monterey Car Week.

Audi Q3 production begins in Spain

2012 Audi Q3 - Click above for high-res image gallery
It wasn't that long ago that Audi had no SUVs in its lineup - aside from the A6 Allroad Quattro - despite being known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles. But that's all changed, just as it has for BMW and Porsche. The Q7 was followed by the Q5, and now the Q3 has started production as well.
The first Q3 rolled off the assembly line today at the plant in Martorell, Spain. The facility belongs principally to Audi's sister-company Seat, but has gone through a considerable expansion - funded by both Audi and Seat - to prepare for the Q3's production.

Honda revamps F1 engine for McLaren

Things haven't been going smoothly for Honda since returning to Formula One, and the Japanese automaker says the challenge has been greater than it anticipated. But after a stronger showing at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda says its reliability issues are behind it and is working on introducing a revamped engine for the second half of the season. "I am confident our reliability problems are now behind us, which means we can turn our attention to increasing power," Honda racing chief Yasuhisa Arai told Autosport. "After the summer shutdown our plan is to apply a new-spec engine using some of our remaining seven tokens." The "tokens" to which Arai refers are a way for the FIA to limit engine development. The power units are broken down into 66 such tokens in the regulations, and each engine supplier can change up to 32 of them throughout the season. The allowance was at first afforded only to returning suppliers Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault, but Honda succeeded in convincing the FIA to allow it the same leeway. Honda has been spending its development tokens on fixing reliability issues, but will shift its focus to improving performance. The McLaren team that Honda powers has only gotten both of its cars to the finish line at two out of 10 races this season. Most of those problems came down to the new engine package. That's compared to only two retirements the team suffered last season, when it was still under Mercedes power, and none the year before. In Hungary, however, the team not only got both cars to the finish line, but placed both in the points for the first time this season. "The sport has changed immensely since the McLaren-Honda 'glory days'," said Arai. "The current technology is much more sophisticated, and it is tough to make a good racing car. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but perhaps we didn't imagine it would be this hard." The Japanese manufacturer is now spending the summer break developing its power unit. Many of those changes are expected to be rolled out in time for the Belgian Grand Prix later this month, with the rest to follow in the ensuing races. Beyond reliability, engine performance is particularly important for the high-speed races at Spa and Monza, where the subsequent Italian Grand Prix will be held early next month. Related Video: