Joining the AZ-Wagon, AZ-Offroad, Carol and delightfully named Scrum Wagon, Mazda has completed its micro-mini line-up with this, the Flairwagon. Underneath the badging this is actually a Suzuki Palette, a five-door, four-seater kei car introduced in Japan in 2008. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Meet Mercedes Jellinek, the woman behind the name
Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Carl Benz are among those who have granted their names to the house of The Three-Pointed Star. The name the world knows best, Mercedes, is also an eponym but its owner has lived in a more obscure corner of lore. The personal effects of Hans-Peter Schlosser include photos of his mother, one Mercedes Adrienne Ramona Manuela Jellinek, the woman whose name continues to launch a thousand ‘ships’ about every seven hours. Schlosser was Mercedes’ son, and his keepsakes have wound their way to the Mercedes-Benz archives, which had been missing an informative record of the woman herself. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Pikes Peak Hill Climb postponed due to Colorado wildfire
The 90th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has been officially postponed after race officials met with the U.S. Forest Service yesterday afternoon. The event was originally scheduled to run on July 8th, with technical inspections starting July 3rd, but a wildfire in the area, which began on June 23rd, is less than five percent contained and has currently burned over 18,500 acres. The decision to postpone the race was less about direct interference with the fire – the blaze is currently heading away from Pikes Peak – and more about taking away resources desperately needed by the city of Colorado Springs and the surrounding area. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Lamborghini working on four-seat Aventador GT?
Lamborghini is keen to expand its product range with its upcoming Urus utility vehicle. But that doesn’t mean the marque is done developing its top-of-the-line supercar. In fact, there are rumors flying around of numerous derivatives of the new Aventador. But few are as surprising as the speculation surrounding a possible four-seat version. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Infiniti still wants halo car, GT-R variant ruled out
Take a good look at the lineup of cars at Infiniti. Notice anything interesting? We see sedans of multiple shapes and sizes, wagon-like crossovers, a hybrid and even a massive SUV, which is the most expensive machine the company has on offer. What we don’t see, though, is a clear range-topper. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Tauro puts Spanish flavor, Corvette engine into Pontiac Solstice
While it may have had its fans, we have to say we don’t much miss the roadster family which General Motors based on its Kappa platform. Sold alternately as the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT and Daewoo G2X (depending largely on the market), the roadster as much about style as substance, and it was summarily discontinued in 2009 as GM’s domestic brands faltered. But now a company in Spain has given the two-seat roadster a new lease on life. Funk Flex
