Allegedly designed to alert the driver/rider any time the modified vehicle is emitting enough carbon monoxide to be harmful to the environment—which would be an awful lot if we had to guess—this original tailpipe trumpet certainly gives added credence to the term, engine note. Creators Allora & Calzadilla are most likely more interested in making a social statement than tuning (sorry) exhausts but the concept makes for, at the very least, a fascinating visual effect. The next attempt had better be a French horn.

+ Lisson Gallery    

A Romanian man has put a local used car website to innovative use, offering up his 25-year-old wife who he has apparently become “fed up with.”

Alex Cretu of Bucharest advertised his bride for the rather steep price of $6.4 million, describing his bride as “Model 1983, good condition. Full option, nice suspensions, spacious boot, second owner.” The frazzled husband added, "Price is negotiable, comes with three-year-old and five-year-old accessories. Seriousness demanded."

Though Cretu has received several offers already—low ball bids or parties asking for a sort of human lay-away plan—he has been forced to lower his original asking price substantially, now demanding only $4800 for the troublesome life partner and hoping for a “quick sale.”

Joke or not (and we really, really think this guy had better be joking), we’re not sure that this sort of misogynistic tomfoolery would fly on eBay Motors, spacious boot or no.

+ Rian.ru - Romanian man advertises wife for sale on used car website

Able to express a wide range of emotions, nonverbally, and without so much as cracking a window, this “The Hand” radio-controlled window sign surely signals a leap forward in driver-to-driver communication.

Using the fancy and expensive sounding electroluminescent technology, The Hand will easily attach to the rear window of any car or truck. The device will then convey gestures ranging from “Power” to “I love you,” at the touch of a button, with plenty of range left to raise the occasional single finger salute. A $39.99 price tag leaves The Hand well within reach for most quirky gift shoppers, though the item is funny enough that you may just want to treat yourself—just be sure to keep your hands on the wheel.

+ Perpetual Kid

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If your childhood was anything like ours, it was likely littered with multiple attempts at building model cars and trucks—with varying degrees of accuracy—some of which may have been the very cool Japanese imports from toymakers Takara Tomy. Well known for its scale models and RC kits, Tomy has been up to something quite different these days in its home market of Japan.

The toy company has paired with traditional fish cake manufacturer (not one of those annoying fly-by-night fish cake emporiums) Odawara Kanko to create a new spin on a classic Japanese snack. The vehicular kamaboko (fish cake) is sold in the shape of a police car or bus, and is colored using natural ingredients like spinach and squid ink rather than dyes.

A perfectly healthful inclusion for a boxed lunch or other meals on the go, we can’t think of a more entertaining way of getting kids to eat their fish cake—just tell them it’s candy.

+ Kamaboko

As you’ve probably guessed, Tonke Campers are not injection-molded by machines. They're not made in giant factories owned by conglomerates. Instead, Tonke shows how you can marry 'oldtimer' materials and aesthetics with thoroughly modern fittings.

Actress Heather Locklear, well known for her work in television and movies, was arrested by the California Highway Patrol for DUI Saturday evening even though she wasn't drunk at all.

Apparently, a caller witnessed Locklear revving her engine and driving forwards and backwards over a pair of sunglasses in a parking lot. The actress then proceeded to exit the vehicle and stumble into the traffic lane. The police officers found the actress after the concerned citizen called the police.

When officers arrived, they noted that she looked disoriented. Even after confirming that she wasn't intoxicated from alcohol through a DUI test, Locklear was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. It was later confirmed by a drug recognition expert that she was indeed under the influence of a controlled substance and could not safely operate a motor vehicle.

+ E! Online: Heather Locklear Arrested After "Concerned Citizen" Calls CHP (via Jalopnik)

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When automakers are looking for the perfect name for their new products, they seem to strive for monikers that reach customers on a gut level rather than an intellectual one. The same can be said, we’ve noticed, of the naming conventions behind modern prescription drugs, which seem to meld a version of the intended effect with melodious prefixes and suffixes. So it was only natural that we find the shared area between modern medicine and today’s wheels; presented above for your approval. Click through the gallery above for our list of car names that sound like medicine names and then tell us where we went right or wrong in Comments. 

There is a new revival of Cooper Black rolling on to the market which only contains ordinals. It is called Mini-Cooper.

Chevrolet’s press blitz for the Volt extended-range electric vehicle is in full force. Tuesday’s centennial celebration put the new range-extender electric car in the spotlight and you’d be hard pressed to find a newspaper, broadcast, or news website without mention of the little car that could. The parade of press continued Wednesday when GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz appeared on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

In the world of vehicular ironies, this one is right up there with “Ford Aspire.” According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, the local police in Melbourne’s nightclub district are being outfitted with Hummer H3s in order to help police officers curb “antisocial behavior.”