Dodge Dart spotted in matte paint wearing 19-inch Pirelli P-Zeros

Our spy photographers have caught something interesting rolling around Auburn Hills. This Dodge Dart R/T wears some interesting matte gray paint as well as a set of 19-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero performance rubber. It's difficult to tell from this vantage, but the sedan may sit slightly lower than other models we've seen as well. Of course, it's difficult to miss the aggressive hood scoop planted front and center. Don't get too excited, though. Odds are this is not the much-rumored SRT-4, but rather a special one-off whipped up for the 2012 SEMA show next month. That hood, for example, comes straight from the Mopar catalog.

Still, we wouldn't rule out Dodge offering a matte paint on the Dart option sheet. If Hyundai can make the coating viable on a large volume model like the Veloster, there's certainly nothing stopping Chrysler from doing the same. Keep your ear to the ground for more information.
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Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast 303 LIVE!

We record Episode 302 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode 303

• Jaguar utility vehicle and small sedan
• Volkswagen says clean and simple are in
• Next BMW M3 will be lighter, torquier
• Scion goes after headbangers

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Petrolicious sets its lenses on the outrageous Lamborghini Countach

It's easy to forget just how insane the Lamborghini Countach was when it debuted in 1971. While the rest of the world was still focused on producing sports cars with flowing, organic body lines, Lamborghini pulled back the sheets on fiendishly-low Countach with it's razor-sharp panel creases and plethora of vents and ducts. Very simply, there had never been anything like this car on the road before. Maybe that's why it holds onto our imaginations so rabidly. It's more than having owned the poster. It's knowing that in spite of all the machine's flaws, the Countach is something special.

James Chen, the owner of Axis Wheels, knows that fact all too well. As a life-long fan of the Countach, he finally realized a childhood dream when he bought the machine you see above. The crew from Petrolicious recently caught up with Chen to discuss what it is that sets the Countach apart. With plenty of gorgeous cinematography and a soundtrack punctuated by the V12's exhaust note, the clip is well worth your time. Check it out below.
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Batman-inspired Kia Optima concept headed for Gotham reveal

DC Entertainment is leading a charity campaign called "We Can Be Heroes" to raise awareness of hunger in The Horn of Africa. With help from artist Jim Lee and Rides magazine, Kia has joined the Justice League with a Batman-themed Optima SX apparently inspired by the Dark Knight's darkest nights.

Looking like Batman went to SEMA, a set of coilovers gets the Optima SX hunkered down over an intense bodykit and 20-inch wheels. The exterior is done in matte black and piano black, but a carpet of yellow LEDs will make sure it never gets lost in the night they even shine from behind the massive brakes, the Batwing-shaped grille and the HID headlights etched with the Bat-Signal. The interior gets lots of black leather with Batman logos, "utility throwing stars" in the console and a Batsuit and cowl in the trunk.

The one-off Kia will be unveiled in Gotham City, and it's the first of eight custom Kias playing doppelgangers to DC characters. There's more about it in the press release below, and NYC's Time Warner Center is where you want to be to see it in person.
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Ford shows off SEMA-bound Fusion specials

With the SEMA Show kicking off later this month, some automakers have already started showing off their Vegas-bound show cars, and now Ford is getting into the mix with a quartet of tricked-out 2013 Ford Fusion concepts. Ford will be unveiling "dozens" of cars at SEMA, but these custom Fusions give a glimpse of the tuning/styling potential of Ford's new midsize sedan.

While show cars at SEMA are generally flashy and over the top, the 2013 Fusion by Tjin Edition is a relatively subtle car. In the past, Tjin Edition Fords have also included the Explorer and Mustang GT, but the Tjin Edition Fusion has been upgraded with a custom paint job that actually makes beige look good to go with 21-inch wheels and new headlights and fog lights featuring LED accents. To give the car more performance, this Fusion also received an upgraded turbo on its 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder and a side-exit MagnaFlow exhaust system. Another restrained show car is the 3dCarbon - Air Design Fusion, which in all likelihood is the most realistic version with its lower body kit that augments the car's already sporty styling.

Looking to mimic the style of cars in the Australian V8 Supercar Series, the Ice Nine Group have the 2013 Fusion looking far better than next year's NASCAR Sprint Cup car decked out with a lowered stance, large rear wing and an eye-catching Monster Energy Drink paint job. The 2013 Fusion by MRT Performance also has an in-your-face appearance with its punishing black-and-blue paint scheme, but it, too, is modified for performance with an Eco-Flow exhaust system and enhanced chassis tuning.

Scroll down for the full press release on these cars, and be sure to check out our live coverage of the show which runs from October 30 through November 2.
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White remains world's most popular car paint color, copper and bronze rising

When it came to paint colors on new cars, for ten years, silver was the one hue to rule them all, not just extending its lead through 2009 and 2010 but doing so in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The revolution came in 2011, when white took over as the top color in the States and black claimed the number one spot in Europe, silver maintaining its hold in the Orient.

The annual study by the paint experts at PPG Industries notes how the the colorless hue has made more gains this year, white cars being the number one choice here and in Europe and tied for first place with silver cars in Asia. Black took second place in every market. Here, silver and gray grabbed third place, while our European cousins displayed their taste for 50 shades of metallic: gray took third place on its own, silver in fourth, four points behind. In Asia, "natural," which includes browns, tans, golds, oranges and yellows, was the pigment of choice after white and black.

Further back in the pack, mineral and alloy shades like gold, copper and bronze are getting more buyers, and based on some of the colors being previewed for 2015 and 2016 it looks like our automotive future has more than a chance of sparkle. The PPG press release below has all the trends and the numbers.
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Project Ugly Horse: Part 1

Meet the Horse



I have always hated this car.

Not the Ford Mustang, mind you, nor the ubiquitous Fox body, but this specific car. It's not because it came from the factory cursed with a heavy and under-powered 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine or an entirely worthless four-speed automatic gearbox. No, I hated this car because once, while I was off pretending to pay attention at college, my father traded two whole International Scout II trucks, their titles and a scad load of new old stock parts for this: a secretary special hatchback Mustang. It made me ill.

Sorry, son. I've sold you to a brace of machete-wielding Somali pirates.

As a vested devotee of all things International Harvester, this was a sin of inconceivable magnitude. I would have been less crushed if he had sat me down, looked me square in the eye and told me in his most earnest and paternal tones that he spent his working days feeding laundry baskets of kittens to a wood chipper instead of wielding Autocad in a cubical as a structural engineer. Or that, "Sorry, son. I've sold you to a brace of machete-wielding Somali pirates to pay off a blood oath."

Confusion. Anger. The betrayal was made all the more painful by the news that the new owner of the two IH bruisers had simply thrown the stack of brand-new 345 heads into the back and hauled the Scouts straight to the crusher for scrap. The locals say you can still hear my teenage screams rolling around the darkened hills of Virginia on a still night.
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