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MINI gives the London Philharmonic the patriotic horn

MINI has teamed up the 2012 MINI London Edition with the London Philharmonic to create a MINI horn National Anthem. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has just finished the mammoth task of recording 205 National Anthems for the 2012 London Olympics, but this is one National Anthem that won’t be wafting across East London in the next month. The London 2012 Olympics are MINI’s marketing method of choice at the moment, so they took nine MINI London 2012 Editions – in a mix of Red, White and Blue – tuned their horns and roped in nine musicians from the Philharmonic’s horn section to toot in time.

New options make Prius pricey

High-tech features and luxury options will push the redesigned Toyota Prius into new territory--namely, $30,000-plus. The 2010 Prius hybrid will offer options found on luxury cars: systems that automatically park the car in a parallel parking space and slow the vehicle when a crash is likely. But Toyota is aware of a new competitor--the 2010 Honda Insight, a hybrid that is a little smaller and expected to be less expensive than the Prius.

Jeep uncovers the 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT8 packing 465 hp

Following a one-year hiatus, Jeep is returning the fire-breathing Grand Cherokee SRT8 to the lineup for 2012, which made its world debut at the New York Auto Show. Central to the changes is a new 6.4-liter Hemi V8 engine producing 465 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque--a 45-hp and 45-lb-ft improvement over the outgoing 6.1-liter unit. Jeep says the SRT8 is good to hit 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, cover the quarter-mile in the mid-13-second range and reach a top speed of 155 mph.