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Jack Kevorkian's old van up for sale in Detroit [w/video]

With Halloween fast approaching, a Detroit pawnshop is offering a macabre automotive memento to park in your garage – Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Volkswagen Bus (pictured above in 1990). The van is currently a broken-down heap with the interior a mess, but the title and registration proves Dr. Kevorkian's ownership. The pawnbroker is hoping to get $40,000 for the ghoulish ride, according to an interview with Fox 2 News. If you're unfamiliar, Dr. Kevorkian rose to prominence in the '90s when he helped with 130 assisted suicides. It earned him the nickname Dr. Death, and he was eventually convicted of second-degree murder in 1999, serving eight years in prison. He died in 2011. Kevorkian's VW has had quite a history. The van was reportedly due to be destroyed in 1997 but somehow avoided the crusher. A retired VW parts dealer put the bus on eBay in 2010, but the vehicle was removed for violating the site's policy against selling "murderabilia." The VW eventually went to auction, but this report said that it hasn't moved in over two years. The video below shows the decrepit vehicle currently, and the gallery above has period photos from the Associated Press. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Volkswagen poised to enter F1 with Red Bull

The Volkswagen Group could finally be preparing to enter Formula One, and enter it in a big way. That is, at least, if the latest reports prove accurate. And given the source, we're taking notice. The word around the paddock this weekend in Singapore has it that VW is entering into a partnership with Red Bull Racing that would see the German auto giant not only supply the team with engines, but buy the team altogether. The move would come as a welcome development for Red Bull, which took four consecutive world championships between 2010 and 2013, but has fallen off pace over the past couple of seasons due in large part to the under-performance of its Renault engines. The deal, which according to the report is currently being finalized, would see VW develop an all-new engine for Red Bull (and potentially for Toro Rosso and other customer teams), but the new power unit wouldn't be ready before 2018. In the interim, Red Bull would break off its current deal with Renault a year early and switch to another customer engine arrangement, with Ferrari currently rumored to be the favorite. The energy drink company that currently owns the team, in turn, would revert to a (prominent) sponsorship role - similar, it bears noting, to the role it plays with VW's World Rally Championship team. The termination of the relationship with Red Bull could spell the end of Renault's current F1 program, unless the French manufacturer carries through with plans to reacquire its stake in the Lotus team that was once its own. The VW deal would also ostensibly put to rest the mooted arrangement that would have seen Red Bull switch from Infiniti sponsorship and Renault engines to a similar deal with Aston Martin and Mercedes. What isn't clear at this moment is which brand Volkswagen would choose to promote with the new F1 program. Audi is speculated to be the favorite, which would likely spell the end of its Le Mans prototype endurance racing program – leaving that realm to Porsche after a solid decade and a half of dominance. The board in Stuttgart could, however, opt to hand the opportunity to one of its other brands, including Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda, or the Volkswagen brand itself. The news comes from not only from the BBC, but from its analyst Eddie Jordan – a man who knows a thing or two about running an F1 team... and selling one. Jordan ran his eponymous grand prix team from 1991 through 2005.

Volkswagen Group previews its wares on eve of Geneva show

The Volkswagen Group is comprised of 11 brands producing 240 vehicles across 49 factories throughout the world. So the best way to show off the range of the VW family is to cram a few thousand journalists and VIPs into a massive makeshift stand to outline the Group's goals, what's in the pipeline and what you'll be able to buy later this year.
To that end, VW pulled out all the stops on the eve of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, bringing along 10 vehicles from across the range. We'll be delving into the details of each over the next two days of show coverage, but before that happens, you can read all about what we saw tonight from the cheap seats after the break.