The good oil: Green car for Brown?

Super City Mayor Len Brown. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Scuttlebutt says Super City Mayor Len Brown wants to replace the official petrol-powered mayoral limo with a politically correct hybrid, such as the Toyota Camry or Prius, or the Honda Insight. Hardly the wheels for official office and dark suits and evening dresses. Better suited to gala days and council singalongs, with or without mayoral chains. Brown could, of course, pick up a Lexus hybrid. The biggish Lexus GS450h sedan would cost Super City ratepayers $157,600. The limousine-like Lexus LS600h has Super City written all over it, but the same ratepayers would have to fork out $280,300. Central government uses 7-Series BMW diesels to help ferry around big-shots like US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Brown might get away with a fleet of stop-start Toyotas or Hondas if greater Auckland's only visitor during his tenure is the ghost of 1960s' counterculturist Timothy Leary.

Eye-catching Alfa billboard

Eye-catching sight in London's Chelsea is a billboard celebrating Alfa Romeo's centenary. It is a picture of the new Giulietta hatchback, a mosaic made up of hundreds of images of moments in Alfa's 100 years. The Italian carmaker raided its heritage library to piece together photos like that of the 158 racer which won the first inaugural Formula One World Championship race in 1950 and the legendary Duetto from the 1960s movie, The Graduate. The advertising campaign for the new Giulietta will be fronted by Hollywood A-lister, Uma Thurman.

Coupe for $5m

Aston Martin's One-77 supercar has been spied during final testing on Germany's Nurburgring circuit. The coupe will soon go on sale at around $5 million, making it the world's most expensive car. Underneath the long bonnet lurks a 7.3-litre V12 engine that will churn out 559kW of power and 750Nm of torque. The two-seater is made of a mix of carbon fibre and aluminium to keep weight down. It will reportedly sprint from zero to 100km/h in 3.3 seconds and hit a top speed of 350km/h, helped by underbody aerodynamics and a retractable wing. In a bid to keep it exclusive, Aston Martin will produce only 77 examples of the One-77.

Confidence on sale

Subaru, the only brand to boost US sales for the past three years, has a new global brand slogan: "Confidence in Motion". The brand will begin using the slogan after it shows a concept vehicle at the upcoming Los Angeles motor show. Ikuo Mori, president of Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries, says the slogan reflects the company's focus on engineering and safety as well as its commitment to changing customer demands. Subaru posted a 25 per cent jump in US sales last month. Its gain for the year is 23 per cent, more than twice the US industry advance.

Bentley chases Axl

Guns n' Roses may not have had a hit in years but that hasn't slowed down lead singer Axl Rose's rock-star behaviour. Rose is being sued by Bentley for damaging a leased car. Rose allegedly returned the 2006 Flying Spur with a cracked windscreen, broken tail-light, dents, damaged wheels, a missing key and more than 67,000km over an agreed use.

We are the world

Woody Will Smith, 33, was convicted of murdering his wife after a jury in Kentucky rejected his defence of caffeine intoxication. Smith had claimed that his daily intake of energy drinks and diet pills had made him temporarily insane when he strangled his two-timing wife with an extension cord last year. He said the diet made him not responsible when he confessed the crime to police. But this year a judge in the state of Washington ordered a hit-and-run driver to treatment instead of jail, based on the driver's "caffeine psychosis". Some doctors believe the condition can kick in with as little as 400mg of caffeine daily.