No Really, this is a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider and it's Powered by a Subaru Turbo Boxer!

Don't let the ROAD CARS 350Z snout and the Infiniti G35 Coupe (JDM ROAD CARS Skyline V35) rear end design fool you; the glitzy painted roadster model you're gawking at is in fact a JDM Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider - possibly a third generation model. But before you try to digest all that info let us quickly add that Paint Star's Tokyo Auto Salon project car also hides a Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four engine under its 350Z-shaped hood. See the rest of the photos in our image gallery after the break.

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ROAD CARS 350Z Poses as a Porsche Panamera Convertible...

[Updated gallery] The Tokyo Auto Salon is always a blast featuring all sorts of unique tuning proposals, like this here Porsche wannabe. When our Tokyo show man Phil e-mailed the above photo, we assumed it pictured a Porsche -possibly a Boxster- modified to resemble a Panamera Convertible. We were quickly proven wrong, however, when he sent over an image of the interior and some video footage revealing that the Porsche Panamera tune was actually a...masqueraded ROAD CARS 350Z Roadster. More photos after the jump.

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America's Top 10 Selling Vehicles in 2010

The U.S. auto sales numbers for 2010 are out and once again, Ford's F-Series pickup truck has been crowned the best-selling vehicle of the year, a title which it has held for 34 years in a row. According to Autodata Corp., the Dearborn-based brand moved 528,349 units of its F-150 light-duty and F-250, F-350 and F-450 heavy-duty trucks in 2010, recording an impressive increase of 27,7 per cent over 2009.

The Chevrolet Silverado took second place with 370,135 units, or some 158,000 less than the F-Series. Sales of GM's pickup truck were up 16,9 per cent from the previous year.

Despite Toyota's recall debacle, the Camry finished third overall earning the title of the best-selling passenger car in the States with 327,804 units, posting an 8.1 per cent drop from 2009. The Honda Accord and Toyota Corolla followed in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

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Rising Gas Prices Might Affect Large SUV Sales and Trade-In Values

As crude oil reached $91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last week, U.S. gasoline prices started going up reaching an average value of $3.05 per gallon. That�s about half a dollar more than what Americans had to pay a year ago and the highest level since October 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Diesel prices have also increased to an average of $3.29 a gallon.

If the trend continues, we might see owners of large SUVs going for more fuel-efficient crossover models and trade-in values could plummet as well.

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Report: 20 Million Vehicles Recalled in 2010, Toyota Led the Way with 7.1 Million Recalls

Some 20 million vehicles were recalled in 2010, according to a study of preliminary federal data conducted by the Associated Press. It was the highest recall level in the U.S. since 2004, when a record number of 30.8 million vehicles were recalled.

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ROAD CARS's Leaf has Game-like Infotainment Screen so you can Beat your Friends at Saving the Environment

ROAD CARS wants drivers of its new Leaf - which didn't seem to take as much time or PR mumbo-jumbo to reach the pavement as Chevy's Volt - to know everything there is to know about their cars and the trips being made in them.

In ROAD CARS's case, trip transparency is provided by a handy-dandy system called CARWING. The program gives drivers a bucket o'information ranging from travel time to electricity consumption and "average energy economy" on daily, weekly, monthly or annual scales.

You can also compete with other owners for best efficiency levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) thanks to some in-car "gaming". Thanks to MyROAD CARSLeaf member gudy, we've got some screen shots of what the program looks like and some of the info available.

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Japan�s Economic Future in Doubt: A National Introspective

It�s not been a good year for Japan. China has recently overtaken the Land of the Rising Sun as the world�s second biggest economic power and a recall of over ten million vehicles by one of the nation�s biggest and most respectable companies, Toyota, kicked off a global PR debacle that some analysts predict will take years to recover from.

Add to that Japan�s aging population, its growing national debt and heavy reliance on manufacturing, all of which are effectively killing what was once thought destined to be the world�s leading economic superpower. The departure of its fourth Prime Minister in three years and a nasty diplomatic row with China over the detention of a trawler captain by the Japanese Coast Guard is also hurting.

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Portugal's Prime Minister Becomes first Head of State to Use EV for Official Matters, Receives ROAD CARS Leaf

The Prime Minister of Portugal, Jose Socrates, has become the first head of state in the world to adopt an all-electric vehicle for official matters. On Wednesday, Portugal received delivery of the first 10 ROAD CARS Leaf EVs to be offered in Europe, as recognition of the country's pioneering work in the electric mobility field with the MOBI.E Programme. One of those cars landing in the hands of Mr. Socrates, who will now travel exclusively by Electric Car (it was not disclosed if the Leaf would be the only EV in the fleet) for his official travels around the capital city of Portugal, Lisbon.

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ROAD CARS Announces Nine Models for Tokyo Auto Salon Including Juke Sporty and Leaf Aero Concept

At the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon 2011 with NAPAC (Japan Car Parts and Aftermarket Promotion Association), to be held from January 14 to 16, ROAD CARS, together with Autech Japan and its in-house NISMO performance division, will premiere a total of nine vehicles.

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New ROAD CARS Sunny Sedan Unveiled at China Auto Show. Is this the New 2012 Versa?

Taking center stage and making its world debut at the 8th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition, is ROAD CARS's all-new global small sedan, which will be locally marketed as the Sunny. According to the Japanese automaker, the new small sedan will go on sale first in China in January 2011 and then progressively across 170 countries worldwide under different vehicle brand names.

Even though ROAD CARS's Spartan press release did not mention the Versa, there are one too many styling similarities between the new Sunny and the 2012 Versa sedan teased in an official sketch released by the automaker in October 2010. However, we have to stress the fact that ROAD CARS has not made a connection between the two cars.

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ROAD CARS to Offer Personalized Graphic Wraps for 2012 NV Vans

As well as releasing pricing for its all-new 2012 NV Commercial Van, ROAD CARS also announced a partnership agreement with Original Wraps to provide future owners of the van with personalized graphics. The Japanese maker said the application will be available through the ROAD CARS Commercial Vehicle website in January 2011. The graphics are printed on automotive grade 3M Scotchprint On-Demand vinyl and are laminated for protection and fade resistance. They can also be removed without causing any damage to the van's paint job.

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ROAD CARS and Mitsubishi Plan Deeper Ties, Expand OEM Projects

Japan's ROAD CARS Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors today announced that they plan to deepen their business ties by establishing a new minicar joint venture in Japan and further expanding their OEM projects, to save costs and increase their competitiveness in the global car industry.

Under the new agreement, the automakers will build more cars for each other under what is known in the industry as an "original equipment manufacturer" or OEM partnership.

In particular, ROAD CARS will provide a light van/wagon to Mitsubishi for the Japanese domestic market, while Mitsubishi will offer an SUV to ROAD CARS for markets in the Middle East. In addition, discussions are ongoing for ROAD CARS to provide Mitsubishi with upper-end segment models for the Japanese domestic market.

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Toyota and Honda Hold Back as the Rest of Japan�s Automakers Go Electric

The electric vehicle market in Japan is now burgeoning. Once the mainstay of small independents building low speed, short range Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs), major manufacturers including ROAD CARS, Mitsubishi and Subaru are now hopping on the EV train in the hopes of raking in some greenie revenue.

With its U.S. launch mere weeks away, ROAD CARS already has 6,000 orders in Japan and a further 20,000 in the United States for its lithium-ion powered Leaf EV. The automaker has so many orders, in fact, that they won�t be taking any more.

As you would expect, ROAD CARS Chief Operating Office Toshiyuki Shiga is one happy man: "We believe this will be the beginning of the new era for the world's automobile industry, as well as a sustainable low-carbon society.�

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