Detmar Detmar 7-5-1c 4'' Blower Bilge on 2040-parts.com

Dakar Rally 2012 Day 2 update

The first major motorsports event of the year, the 2012 Dakar Rally, began its two-week trek across South America on Jan. 1. Four hundred and sixty-five vehicles (171 cars, 185 motorcycles, 33 quads and 76 trucks) with drivers representing 50 nationalities will attempt to cover 9,000 kilometers (more than 5,500 miles) over 14 days throughout Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

One Lap of the Web: Mercedes-Benz SLC rendered, Google Glass for the Tesla S and a rusty Datsun 280ZX

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Last month we brought you some intriguing spy photos of a Porsche 911-fighting Mercedes-Benz coupe -- possibly to be called the SLC, or even the next SLS AMG (it's all a bit unclear at this point) -- but layers of camouflage made it a bit tough to see what the car will look like.

Concept Car of the Week: Mazda Taiki (2007)

Mazda had been doing fantastically well with its concepts since the end of 2006, and its offering for the 2007 Tokyo motor show didn't buck the trend. The fourth in the 'Nagare' series that explored the idea of 'Flow, it lined up on the Mazda stand with its older brothers for the first time, and was understandably a most impressive display and one of the highlights of this show. Here's what Nick Hull had to say about the Taiki at the time.