Akio Toyoda Shows off 2012 Toyota Camry, Manual Transmission Rumored Dead

Best. Camry. Ever. At least, those are the words (if there were some liberties taken with the cadence) of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda when talking about the all new 2012 Toyota Camry.

Toyoda said that they listened to customers and have built a car that will exceed expectations and will be a "remarkable car in terms of handling, safety and fuel economy." Remarkable handling? Camry? Ok....

But things don't stop when the video cuts out shortly after the peep show of the car's the new Camry's headlight. Nope, the internet of all things is running rampant with rumors about the new car. In particular, VW Vortex seems to have found a cache of early information....

What they've dug up is that the 2012 Toyota Camry will abandon the highly sought after manual transmission option (take that, sales crown) as well as the V6 LE. Wheels on the XLE will be 17s, up from 16s while the V6 SE will have 18s. Entune will be available on XLE and SE models. LE models will lose standard power seats, getting them only as an option. This probably means that the LE will follow in the footsteps of the Passat and be cheaper than the $21,650 it stickers for in 2011.

Of course, we won't know the exact specifics until the car is released sometime this fall, aka: at the LA Auto Show.

IL Track Tested: 2011 Chevy Camaro ZL1 SLP Convertible

We're months away from the official release of the 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1 but we're already chomping at the bit. Thankfully, for the impatient, SLP has a thriving tuning business and limited rights to the ZL1 name.

The result is this, the 2011 Chevy Camaro ZL1 SLP Convertible. It's for 2011 only and only 69 will be made, an homage to the original 1969 Chevy Camaro ZL1. That car had a 427-cubic-inch aluminum V8 and so does this new one, but this ZL1 SLP cranks out a whopping 750 (claimed) horsepower. Thank a TVS 2300 supercharger pushing 10 psi of boost, SLP rocker arms, Blackwing cold air induction and an SLP tune (with 205 mph top speed limiter) for the big numbers.

Big numbers are all well and good, but we had to find out how well the 2011 Chevy Camaro ZL1 SLP Convertible did when those 750 ponies hit pavement. Follow the jump for test results...

IndyCar Adds Another Oval Race with Cal Speedway

California Speedway is welcoming back IndyCar after a six-year hiatus. The two-mile oval in scenic Fontana, California (which plays a cameo role every week here on Inside Line) recently lost one of its two NASCAR races, so the announcement of another race is certainly good news for the track officially known as the Auto Club Speedway.

"We feel the time is right to bring IndyCar back to Auto Club Speedway," said IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard. "We want to maintain the diverse line-up of ovals on our schedule and the addition of Auto Club Speedway adds a great venue that was built for the high-speed, wheel-to-wheel excitement of IndyCar racing under the lights."

That's right, it'll be a night race. It'll also be the third IndyCar race in California, joining the Streets of Long Beach and Infineon (Sears Point) Raceway in Sonoma.

New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series Coupe Leaked

Speedfans by Evo, a French publication, has just pushed out the first real photos of a production version of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe. Power is listed at 517 horsepower, down from the 570+ we'd assumed, but everything else looks exactly how we'd expected. Except that hood...yikes.

Check the link as they'll be updating with more pictures from the event.

Spy Photos: New 2013 Land Rover Range Rover

Land Rover is hard at work on the 2013 Land Rover Range Rover and the proof is in this aerodynamically challenged prototype just spotted testing. The new truck looks remarkably similar to the one it replaces, although we look to have thicker C and D pillars while still maintaining the near-pillarless look of Range Rovers. The windshield is also more swept back for a sportier, more wind-friendly design.

Rumors on the new, fully-redesigned Range Rover have been flying fast and furious for months now but two persist. The first is that the 2013 Land Rover Range Rover will use aluminum for the chassis and the bodywork (Thanks, Jaguar!) shedding something like 20% of the current truck's weight. There are emissions and fuel economy standards to worry about after all. The second, and more fun rumor, is that the new RR will be powered by a hybrid powertrain. And not just any powertrain, but a Volt-like plug-in, extended range hybrid system.

If you consider how many of these you see in urban/suburban Los Angeles that rarely travel more than 20 miles in a trip, a PHEV seems just the thing. And really, shouldn't we be focusing on the big things for big gains instead of small cars for small gains?

New Ford Fiesta Sport Special Edition Announced for Europe Only

Ford has released teaser / taunter images of their new Ford Fiesta Sport Special Edition. The light-absorbing hatch gets some minor exterior changes including lower side skirts, front and rear spoilers, silver grille surround, fog lamp bezels and polished exhausts.

More importantly, though, is the paint. The Special Edition will be available in Panther Black -- the color pictured above -- with Panther Black wheels. There are seven colors available total, but really, why? When the above is available? On the inside is heated Ebony Black leather with silver stitching.

And then we get to the bad news: It's for Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland) only. Because why would American small car buyers want to feel special?

The Tablet Race?

Somehow, the wizards at Apple figured out that the next big thing in
personal computing was going to be the tablet. Apple's iPad wasn't
even that great of a computer when it first went on sale. They are
great for consuming media (as long as it isn't Flash) but not great
for any sort of intense productive or creative work.

What amazes me is that the very smart people at companies like HP,
Dell, Motorola, and Microsoft were apparently unready to compete.
Only now are credible iPad alternatives appearing, like the Galaxy and
Xoom, but even these are closer to oversized smart phones than general
purpose computers.

Where is Microsoft? Why isn't there a useable Windows edition
optimized for fingertips and not mice?

Now here comes HP, with another tablet OS, based on its (dying) Palm
sourced WebOS.

I think people will settle on two or three systems at most. One may
be Windows, I think, when Microsoft is finally ready. The other will
be Android which has a huge head start over WebOS and RIM's QNX. And
Apples iOS of course is too big to go away.

Me, I about to pull the trigger on an Eee Pad Transformer or maybe an
Iconia, if I can find a nice deal. I want Flash support and a
credible app store.