In his recent review of the Lexus LX570, Michale Karesh noted that he

struggled to make this 5,995-pound, technology-packed, luxurious SUV make sense.

Apparently he’s not the only one. From the looks of things, the Japanese tuning house Invader Technologies is having a hard time making the LX570 make sense… at least to anyone who’s not a drug-addled, mobbed-up Russian gangster. I suppose that, by post-Mansory tuning standards anyway, the Invader L60 isn’t exactly breaking new ground… still, I’m amazed by how freshly insulted my optical nerves feel.

The Aveo name may be all used up in the North American market, but in emerging markets around the world it still enjoys quite a bit of equity. So, when this thing goes on sale stateside in September it will be called the Sonic… but for at its global launch in Seoul, South Korea, this latest Chevy-by-Daewoo is simply the new Aveo.

Via designauto.fr, come these first pictures of Fiat’s Chrysler-cum-Lancias, the Thema (Chrysler 300) and Flavia (Chrysler 200). But are these rebadges worthy of the Lancia name? Hit the jump for the context necessary to answer that question…

Looking at this picture of Ferrari’s newest GT model, I can’t fight the smile that it brings to my face. Only yesterday, I asked TTAC’s Best And Brightest to square the eternal tension between the enthusiast’s love for unusual, communicative, original cars and the bland, practical vehicles that allow the industry to even consider the needs of those few of us who truly enjoy our cars. And while TTAC’s readers discussed the tortured relationships between enthusiasts and the industry they simultaneously love and hate, I spent some much-needed alone time in a car that could no more be described as boring than it could be described as a sales success (BMW sold nearly ten times the total production run of Z3 Coupes in each year of Z3 Roadster sales). And which has a remarkably similar profile to this new Ferrari FF.

Leave it to the Maranello madmen to popularize (and doubtless make tons of money off of) a look that previously separated the fans of unique quirk from even the sportscar mass market. No other automaker does as fine a job of turning the bizarre desires of the enthusiast community into a profitable business. Unlike BMW, Ferrari won’t need to sell ten twee soft-top versions of the FF to subsidize each sale of this handsome shooting brake… from its lofty peak atop the enthusiast-car competition, Ferrari can not only set the market’s tastes, it can make money doing it. But then, Ferrari has no more “freed millions from the tyranny of immobility” than I have… so perhaps this sudden embrace of a noble yet-neglected automotive form isn’t as significant as circumstances make it seem in my eyes.

[Hit the jump for actual information about the Ferrari FF]

This came to me tonight from my old pal “The Berg”, noted serial purchaser of old Bentley Turbos, bon vivant, and Jewish playboy extraordinaire.

I’m sure it was on a closed course, although I know Berg doesn’t hold a professional license. There’s a photo of the actual car after the jump, but for now, I just want to ask: Is there anything better in life than to pilot an authentic, made-in-England-by-an-English-company-owned-by-actual-English-people-from-England Bentley?

If you had to guess what vehicle underpins this Guangzhou GAC Trumpchi, what would you guess? Here’s a hint: if you’re basing your answer on exterior styling, you will definitely get this one wrong…

The team running Lotus’s turnaround doesn’t seem to mind being perceived as overambitious. The British outfit is developing an IndyCar engine, a family of V6 and V8 engines for its road car, and is considering building an engine for F1… and that’s in addition to developing a modular platform (and everything else) for five different world-class performance luxury cars. And on a certain level, there’s nothing wrong with a little brashness, especially if the goal is to turn a tiny specialty marque into a Porsche-beater. But when it comes to announcing product, Lotus’s over-eagerness does real harm to the firm’s prospects. [Gallery after the jump]

In the wild, panthers are endangered. In the automotive world, Panthers will go extinct sometime in the third quarter of 2011, when the last Lincoln Town Car Executive L rolls off the line. If you think Panthers get a lot of lovin’ around these here parts, you should attend a convention of folks for whom those LTCELs are tools of the trade. Chances are that if you’ve used a limousine or livery service in the past 20 years, you’ve sat in the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car Executive L. That’s why it was big news at Limousine Charter & Tour magazine’s LCT Leadership Summit a couple of months ago when Ford’s fleet marketing manager, Gerry Koss, announced that replacing the soon to be dearly departed Town Car in Ford’s livery fleet fleet will be livery and stretched limo versions of the Lincoln MKT.

How lazy are automotive journalists? Well, it appears that some of them just can’t resist putting their feet up. More details and a close-up after the jump.

You’re shopping for a new Acura TSX, and you’re the kind of young go-getter who demands to shift it yourself. Naturally you’ll want to check it out online… but something’s wrong here…

Given Toyota’s dominance of the hybrid market, and its early skepticism about pure-electric vehicles, it’s safe to say that we didn’t expect this badge to show up anytime soon. But sure enough, Toyota’s new corporate EV badge will grace the firm’s RAV-4 EV concept, which debuts at this fall’s LA Auto Show. And it won’t be the most jarring image on that vehicle either…

It’s time four our annual non-SEMA non-coverage post. You know where to go and find it, but this tastefully customized Prius refuses to be ignored. Shall we guess what those front end scoops do to the Prius’ carefully refined aerodynamics. Ah, but that carbon fiber hood will offset enough weight to mitigate any loss of efficiency from the body work. Admittedly, the Prius C&A Custom Concept had a strong challenger for TTAC’s annual SEMA non-coverage winner: