One Lap of the Web: Happy birthday, John DeLorean, a legally imported Nissan Skyline, Amphicar for sale and the Righini Collection

-- Bust out the candles: American success story, visionary futurist and import/export whiz John DeLorean was born this day in 1925. Everyone knows about his battle to launch the DeLorean Motor Company, but the man behind the stainless-steel legend had a long career as a brilliant engineer that included time at Chrysler, Packard and General Motors. And while we might not all be driving DeLoreans today, we're still talking about both the man and the company -- which is pretty impressive when you think about it.

-- Before the New Year, we had our suspicions that someone, somewhere, had already purchased a 1989 Nissan Skyline and was just waiting to drive it across the border at 12:01 January 1. Turns out that we were right -- and that someone was Trevor Cobb. Jalopnik reports that Cobb did his homework before hitting the border, which probably contributed to his quick 20-minute turnaround at customs. Congrats, Trevor, and enjoy your new/old GT-R!

-- You know what they say about the Amphicar: bad as a car, not so good as a boat and yet somehow still completely charming. And there's one for sale on Hemmings right now for a mere $32,000. For someone looking to buy a boat and a car in the new year, we'd call it a bargain, but the reality is that you're going to be pretty disappointed if you're expecting heart-pounding driving dynamics or a excitement on the high seas. For the right buyer, though, (namely, one who is content to simply putter over land and sea) it could be the perfect project. Supposedly usable as-is, we'd want to give it a thorough inspection before putting its seaworthiness to the test.

-- Tucked away in an ancient Italian villa, the Righini Collection sounds almost too perfect to be believable. Dozens of Italian classics, including Novolari's 8C 2300, all lined up in the former horse stables of some place called "Castello di Panzano Castelfranco Emilia?" Yeah, right. To silence the doubters, Petrolicious went there -- it was drudgery, we're sure -- and brought back video evidence. Enjoy the trip below.

By Graham Kozak