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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton buys LaFerrari

Lewis Hamilton has driven some of the fastest cars ever devised, like the McLaren MP4-23 with which he won the 2008 Formula One World Championship, the Mercedes W05 with which he won the title last year, and the new W06 he drove to the checkered flag in the season opener earlier this month. But what does he drive in his spare time? According to the latest reports quoting his boss Toto Wolff, the reigning champ celebrated his win at the Australian Grand Prix by ordering a new LaFerrari. The seven-figure, 950-horsepower hybrid hypercar may be made by a rival manufacturer to the team for which he drives, but then his employers at Mercedes don't (for the time being at least) build anything that competes in the segment – unlike his former employers at McLaren that offer the similarly potent P1. Something tells us he won't be invited to drive it at Fiorano, though - which is something his rivals Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel have all had the chance to do. Hamilton has a long-established penchant for driving twelve-cylinder exotic supercars in his spare time. At his previous place of work, he was promised an exceedingly rare McLaren F1 LM – valued at some $4 million – but only if he won three world titles for the Woking-based team. He also owns a Pagani Zonda that was made specifically for him with a 760-horsepower engine (supplied, naturally, by Mercedes) and a six-speed manual – complete with a clutch pedal, which (apart from starting off the line) is something he doesn't usually get to operate during working hours. Related Video:

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Mercedes-Maybach GLS could become the most expensive car made in America

Mercedes-Benz International, the German automaker's manufacturing facility near Vance and Tuscaloosa, Ala., already builds the GLS SUV. Autonews reports that the coming ultra-luxe version of the large crossover, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, will be built in Alabama as well for global markets. The most recent timelines mark the reveal in production or near-production form in China, with sales to commence next year. The next-gen series-production GLS goes on sale later this year. The gilded sub-brand previewed a wild concept last year in China called the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury, which blended the tall profile of an SUV with the truck of a sedan on donk wheels. Based on spy shots, none of that fancy will make it to production. Both the Maybach and AMG versions of the GLS ride on fat rubber but look thoroughly traditional. The treasure will be inside. Autonews said China accounts for roughly 75 percent of Maybach S-Class sedan sales. That suggests the GLS in baroque trim will emphasize chauffeured luxury touches like rear captain's chairs and lots of rear legroom. Pricing estimates figure $200,000 to get in the door. That would put the SUV right in line with the Lamborghini Urus and a couple stacks of Benjamins above the Bentley Bentayga, with much the same likely audience. One analyst said, "The ultra-high-net-worth kids want something different, and these ultraluxury SUVs certainly fit that," while another opined on its "appeal to the Kardashians and hip-hoppers, if they want something slightly different to the G-Wagen." A $200K MSRP would also comfortably make the Maybach GLS the most expensive new car built in America, taking the title from the Acura NSX. With a great price comes great power, said to be a twin-turbo V8 with more than 560 horsepower. The coming GLS 450 will make do with somewhere around 360 hp. The Alabama plant, which also builds the GLE, GLE Coupe, and C-Class, is also undergoing a $1 billion upgrade to more than double the size of the facility, making lines for battery production and EQ-series vehicle assembly,