Auto Meter 5403 Pro-comp; Liquid-filled Mechanical Blower Pressure Gauge on 2040-parts.com

VW Scirocco GTS launches – but not in UK

There’s a new Scirocco available across Europe from this month – the VW Scirocco GTS – but it’s not coming to the UK. The GTS is more of a trim level than a stand-alone model and you can grab it with a variety of engines – 1.4 litre TSI, 2.0 litre TSI and 2.0 litre TDI – as the GTS trim just adds cosmetic tweaks to the Scirocco and nothing in the way of power or performance upgrades. Those cosmetic tweaks amount to  thumping great black stripes up the bonnet bordered by thinner red stripes (which all continues over the top and down the back of the GTS), red covers for the door mirrors, 18″ alloys, a spoiler at the back (nicked from the Scirocco R) and a more butch back bumper with diffuser.

Toyota reveals safety research car at CES

One day before the International Consumer Electronics Show opened its doors in Las Vegas, Toyota took the wraps off the highest-tech Lexus LS ever made. The car -- with spinning sensors and probing lasers galore -- is meant to demonstrate safety features that could be coming to production cars someday soon. Called the Advanced Safety Research Vehicle, it sure looked like some of the autonomous self-driving vehicles we saw at the DARPA Challenge, but Toyota stressed that a robot car is not the goal.

Secret Service issues call for next presidential limousine

The Secret Service is mulling a replacement for Barack Obama's presidential limousine, the Cadillac-styled vehicle lovingly nicknamed "The Beast." News of the new limousine first reached the Internet via FedBizOpps.gov, the official site for Federal Business Opportunities, which provides listings and contracts for various government projects. (Some other listings included cleaning the kitchens at Okinawa, Coast Guard ship repair, and "Phacoemulsification Surgical Equipment.") It calls for a four-phase development program, which is seemingly straightforward. Phase 1 is armor development -- which is currently underway.