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Artist imagines eerie world where cars have no wheels

The wheel ranks right up there with the telescope and four-slice toaster in the pantheon of inventions that have moved humankind forward. But what if a circle in three dimensions had never occurred to anyone, and we all had just moved on without it? Perhaps we'd be driving around in Lucas Motors Landspeeders with anti-gravity engines. Or maybe we'd have the same cars we do today, just without wheels.
That's the thought experiment that seems to have led French photographer Renaud Marion to create his six-image series called Air Drive. The shots depict cars throughout many eras of motoring that look normal except for one thing: they have no wheels. The models used include a Jaguar XK120, Cadillac DeVille (shown above), Chevrolet El Camino and Camaro, and Mercedes-Benz SL and 300 roadsters.
Perhaps one day when our future becomes our past, you'll be able to walk the street and see with your own eyes the rust and patina of age on our nation's fleet of floating cars. Until then, Monsieur Marion's photographs will have to do.

Mercedes wants to be the luxury car for women

Mercedes-Benz wants to bring more women into the the fold, and it's launching a very different type of online vehicle configurator in Germany by the end of the year in hopes of growing appeal among female buyers. The new website is just one part of the company's new advertising campaign called "She's Mercedes" that launches at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It's set to appear in other markets around the world in 2016. Although according to company spokesperson Tobias Mueller to Autoblog, "MBUSA has no immediate plans to extend this strategy in the US." Mercedes believes the huge number of options on its models can be overwhelming, and the company's new "lifestyle configurator" is supposed to offer an alternative. With this solution customers select their preferences to questions about travel, music, activities, and more. The automaker then uses an algorithm to offer several pre-equipped vehicles that meet those criteria best. Although, obviously the traditional configurator is still available for women wanting the more direct approach. "In future we want to win them over for our brand to an even greater extent than before – with tailor-made measures, developed especially for women," said Dr. Jens Thiemer, Mercedes' head of marketing. In addition to the lifestyle configurator, Mercedes is hoping to grow its female buyers in other ways. It's launching a She's Mercedes magazine and website in Germany in September to further get the message out about the campaign. Beyond just a tweaked marketing message, the company wants to hire more women for the sales staff at dealers, too. "Best Customer Experience" – She's Mercedes and lifestyle configurator: Mercedes-Benz – individual and up close and personal to female and male customers alike Stuttgart, Sep 12, 2015 Stuttgart. In keeping with the sales and marketing strategy "Best Customer Experience", Mercedes-Benz is bringing the needs and wishes of women even more sharply into focus. The inspiration platform "She's Mercedes", which is starting in parallel with the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA), is at the heart of the new, holistic initiative. With innovative event and information offers, Mercedes-Benz wants to enter a more intensive dialogue with women and significantly increase the brand's attractiveness for this target group.

Here's what Jay Leno will be working on in 2016

Jay Leno always has a project or five underway in his garage, and since 2015 is practically over, his latest video offers a glimpse at some of the amazing vehicles we might see his team complete in the coming year. Leno's crew certainly has a lot to do next year. Leno's most impressive current undertaking is an effort to modernize a 1914 Detroit Electric with about ten times its original power output. He showed off the vintage EV as just a shell in his last tour of the garage, but his team has now recreated the wood body. They also started the project's bigger challenge of installing a new electric motor and lithium-ion batteries from a Nissan Leaf. If EVs don't interest you, Leno has plenty of other irons in the fire, too. There's a 1971 Porsche 911 that's under restoration to turn it into a solid driver and several motorcycles in various states of repair. Leno even welcomes viewers into his dyno room to check out the work on the Chrysler V8 for his Cunningham. The results of this wrenching and welding on these projects should make for even more compelling videos in 2016.