A bank in the US is giving out free Mercedes cars to its customers — if they deposit at least $1 million.

The C1 Bank in Tampa Bay, Florida, is offering its wealthier clients the choice of an SLK 350, ML 350, E 350 sedan or E 350 cabriolet (all 2012 models) as pre-paid interest on a 5-year $1 million Certificate of Deposit account. The bank is also kind enough to cover all on-road costs associated with the cars, so there’s no rego or stamp duty to worry about.

“C1 Bank is offering its clients the ability to drive off in their own brand new Mercedes-Benz just for moving their money to C1 Bank,” C1 Bank CEO Trevor Burgess said in a media release.

“In this interest rate environment where the five year CD has an APY of 1.20 percent it is thrilling to change the game with the instant gratification of a spectacular Mercedes-Benz that our client will own including tax, title, and license.”

Don’t expect to get a brand new Merc with every million you give the bank though. C1 says that the offer is limited to two cars per household.

Other bad news is that the account doesn’t accrue any interest — so when the term is up all you get back is the initial $1 million. And if you withdraw early a termination fee of $3,000 plus the cost of the car is charged.

The cars will be supplied by local Mercedes dealership Crown Eurocars, whose CEO Larry Casto is “extremely excited” about being part of the program.

The offer runs until 21 July 2012.

A one-off, world-record breaking Ferrari hydroplane will be auctioned in Monaco this month and is expected to fetch as much as $2 million.

Built in 1953, the Timossi-Ferrari Arno XI set the world speed record on water for the 800kg class in the same year. The record-breaking run saw pilot Achille Castoldi achieve a two-way average speed of 241.708km/h over the flying kilometre, as well as the speed record in the 24 nautical mile event with an average speed of 164.70km/h. Both records still stand today.

The racing hydroplane was powered by a twin-supercharged 5.0-litre Ferrari V12 that produced 441kW — the same engine that powered the first Ferrari to win a Formula 1 World Championship in 1951.

The Arno XI was retired from competition in 1968. After it was given a complete structural restoration in 2004 it has completed a number of successful runs on the water. The engine has also been restored at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello and now produces 515kW when running on regular 100 Octane unleaded fuel, as opposed to the less-reliable methanol fuel which the original engine used.

According to the seller, the hydroplane is still completely seaworthy and capable of the same high-speed runs which it achieved in its heyday — for those brave enough to attempt them.

The Arno XI hydroplane is to be sold by RM Auctions in Monaco between 10 and 12 May.

Cadillac has begun testing a vehicle with semi-autonomous technology it calls “Super Cruise”. The system supposedly allows the car to steer, brake and centre itself in lanes during highway driving.

The technology works through a combination of radar, ultrasonic sensors, cameras and GPS map data.

While this doesn’t mean that we will soon be able to sit back and let our cars do all the hard work driving around city streets, it does look like a promising option for making long freeway trips a bit more bearable.

Super Cruise also represents a huge advance in safety for future cars according to John Capp, General Motors director of Global Active Safety Electronics and Innovation.

“The primary goal of GM’s autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle development is safety,” he said in a media release.

“In the coming years, autonomous driving systems paired with advanced safety systems could help eliminate the crash altogether by interceding on behalf of drivers before they’re even aware of a hazardous situation. More than ever, consumers will be able to trust their car to do the right thing.”

Lane-centring technology is at the heart of these safety innovations. It works by using forward-facing cameras to detect road markings and GPS data to identify bends and other changes in road conditions. However, the technology is still in its early stages, with bad weather and poorly marked roads making it ineffective.

Cadillac says the Super Cruise technology could be ready for production vehicles as soon as 2015.

General Motors has applied for a patent for billboard technology that can serve up individually–tailored advertising to drivers based on their previous navigational inputs.

This represents a step towards the future experienced by Tom Cruise in the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, where citizens are bombarded by advertising that has tracked their past preferences, reports Jalopnik.

It’s not all Orwellian just yet though.

At the moment GM’s Onstar service is only allowed to use the last destination entered into the navigation system. The personalised records are then deleted but anonymous information is sent to Onstar to track overall patterns of driving behaviour, including seasonal trends.

No information is available yet as to how billboards would distinguish between multiple drivers passing at the same time.

Major credit card companies have been using this kind of technology for years, but this is the first time it has been used in the motoring world.

It also mirrors online ad targeting which can serve ads to users based on their recent habits.

The world’s first ever stealth boat — a top secret US Navy vessel built in the 1980s — is now up for sale on an eBay-style auction site.

Originally built at a cost of around $200 million, the Sea Shadow could be yours for just a fraction of that with bidding currently sitting around $100,000 on auction site GSA Auctions.

The Sea Shadow measures 5m by 21m, weighs 563 tons and is capable of a top speed of 14 knots. It also served as the inspiration for the villain’s stealth boat in the 1997 James Bond filmTomorrow Never Dies.

Production of the Sea Shadow was so secretive that the public weren’t aware of its existence until 1993 — eight years after it was completed in 1985. It was co-developed by the US Navy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Company.

If you are the lucky winner of the Sea Shadow, don’t expect to be conducting any stealth raids on the open ocean any time soon — unless you’re capable of reassembling it. The boat is being sold by salvage dealers who were unable to find a suitable museum to house it, so it will arrive on your doorstep as scrap metal.

Bidding for the Sea Shadow closes on Thursday.

One of the automotive industry’s leading engineers has predicted that the most economical cars available by 2020 will produce fewer emissions than the cleanest electric trains of today.

Richard Parry-Jones, chairman-designate of Network Rail in the UK, told a London transport conference that the car industry is targeting tailpipe emissions of 40g/km of CO2 by the end of the decade. This would equate to just 25g/km per passenger if the average number of car occupants remains at 1.6, putting cars in the same category as the cleanest forms of public transport.

This is good news for drivers as it means the average fuel consumption of cars will be approximately 1.7L/100km for petrol vehicles and 1.5L/100km for diesels.

These improved emissions figures will be achieved through the continual take-up and advancement of hybrid and electric car technologies.

The most efficient petrol car currently on the market is the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which uses 2.1L/100km or 49g/km of CO2.

Within 8km of starting the twin-turbo V8 for the first time, the fire is muffled as the speed-limiter calls time just beyond 250km/h. And half of those kilometres were getting out of Munich airport and jumping onto the A92 autobahn. After the repressed driving culture of Australia, Germany is like heaven.

Even at 250km/h, you’re often not the quickest thing on the autobahn so it pays to keep one eye on the mirrors and one eye on that Polish-registered truck in the slow lane. The jiggling headlights are closing in fast so I ease into a sizeable gap in the middle lane and continue to hold the throttle wide open. Just as the shape coalesces into a recognisable and legendary front end, the howling V10 becomes audible above the muted roar of the Audi’s V8. When the Porsche Carrera GT whumps past at close to Vmax, the S7 shimmers a little as the disturbed air washes over the bodywork. A mirror check and I’m back out into the fast lane hoping my co-pilot can snap off a shot but the Carrera GT has already opened up a 400 metre gap. A minute later it’s out of sight. Big respect.

Even without the electronic interference of the speed limiter, the S7 wouldn’t have held the Carrera GT at bay for long – Audi engineers suggest it’d run to around 280km/h before aero drag would get the better of the power. The Audi’s twin turbo 4.0-litre V8 produces 309kW; a long way shy of the 450kW, 5.7-litre V10 in the Porsche. And while no one is going to confuse the S7 and its sober-suited S6 brother for a supercar, the S-twins are rapid cars.

Audi claims 0-100km/h in 4.7 seconds; the S6 Avant matches this while the S6 sedan is a tenth quicker. Those numbers feel about right and there’s strong acceleration to about 200km/h before drag becomes a factor. Above 220km/h speed builds at a more leisurely pace.

The same twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 sees also duty in the S8 where it makes 388kW and 650Nm, and the Bentley Continental GT V8 (373kW/660Nm). This is likely to be the engine that will power the 2016 Lamborghini Urus super-SUV shown in concept form at Beijing.

On the international launch of the S6 and S7 models there was some talk by various journalists that the S6 and S7 were underpowered to survive in the German power war. From the above numbers, it’s clear the engine is unstressed in this application but unlike some German rivals, the S7/S6 never feels overwhelmed by its engine.

And power isn’t this engine’s only trick. Cylinder deactivation shuts down the intake and exhaust valves on cylinders 2, 3, 5 and 8, switching the V8 to a V4. The operating parameters of the system appear narrow; engine speed must be between 960-3500rpm, the seven-speed dual clutch transmission must be in third gear or higher and torque output must be between 25-35 percent of peak torque. The truth is, with such a wide spread of ratios, cylinder deactivation works up to at least 150km/h on a steady throttle. And its operation is seamless, which will be a shock to those of you who understand primary balance.

Audi engineers have gone to incredible lengths to ensure you can’t pick when the system is operating. Active Noise Control (ANC) and dynamic engine mounts play a huge role in the technical subterfuge. Four microphones integrated into the headlining record the complete noise spectrum within the cabin, isolating and discarding music and conversation. When the cylinder deactivation shuts down half of the engine, a sensor at the crankshaft tells the microphones to generate a 3D ultrasonic pattern to disguise any vibrations from the unbalanced engine. The speakers work whether the audio system is on or off. It is a brilliant solution and there’s no way to tell when then engine is in V4 or V8 mode. You have to cheat and refer to the instrument display.

Away from the autobahn and onto some twisty roads in the Alps, the S7, and especially the S6 which was fitted with the optional sports rear differential and dynamic steering, are more fun and agile than such a large luxury car has a right to be. Like most Audis, steering feel is hardly a strong suit, but the electromechanical steering is quick and there’s enormous traction from the quattro all-wheel drive set-up. Under normal circumstances, 60 percent of all torque is delivered to the rear wheels. When slip is detected, a maximum of 80 percent will be sent rearwards, or if it’s the rear wheels slipping, 70 percent of all torque will be shuffled forwards. The optional sport rear diff will vector torque across the back axle allowing 100 percent (of the 80 percent peak torque) to drive one rear wheel. Driving in both wet and dry conditions, the longitudinal grip is amazing. Lateral grip is a factor of tyre adhesion and the S6/S7 score strongly here as well. Standard tyres are 255/40 R19 (we tested Continental Contact Sports) for both models, though 255/35 R20s are optional and, in the case of the S7, 265/35 R21s. Despite the lack of sporty chassis options, the S7 was fitted with carbon ceramic rotors (which save 7.5kg in unsprung mass at each corner). Regardless of whether you option the carbons or stick with the cast-iron rotors, the front calipers are monster six-piston units. Neither the S6 nor S7 are track cars so save your cash and forget the carbons.

Both models are fitted with adaptive sports air suspension. In the sportiest mode the suspension drops 10mm in the S7 and 20mm in the S6. While the car does sit flatter in this mode, the ride (especially that of the S6) deteriorates noticeably.

The seven-speed dual clutch transmission delivers sporting shifts when the mood takes you, but most times is happy to blend into the background with almost imperceptible cog-swapping. It does a great job keeping the engine in its mid-range sweet spot.

As we’ve come to expect from Audi, the interior of both models are works of art. The basic design is familiar from the A6 and A7 but with a sportier take. The sports seats with integrated headrests, quilted finish and deviated stitching are standard on the S7 and optional on the S6 models.

Now for the bad news. Not all markets will get all three variants. Major European markets and the UK will take S6 sedan and Avant, and S7, but Australia has already ruled out S6 Avant. The USA and China are likely to follow suit and take only S6 sedan and S7. Only German pricing has been released at this stage where the S6 sedan costs 72,900 Euros, 75,250 Euros for the Avant and 79,900 Euros for the S7. The S6 sedan is expected to cost just shy of $200,000 when it goes on sale in Australia in October, while the S7 will crack the $200K barrier.

Within 8km of starting the twin-turbo V8 for the first time, the fire is muffled as the speed-limiter calls time just beyond 250km/h. And half of those kilometres were getting out of Munich airport and jumping onto the A92 autobahn. After the repressed driving culture of Australia, Germany is like heaven.

Read the full story here.

One of just 20 examples ever built of the ultra-rare Lamborghini Reventon is expected to sell for more than $1.5 million when it is auctioned in June at the 2012 London Motorexpo.

Also believed to be the only example of the model in the UK, the Reventon is a rare instance of a supercar not suffering from severe depreciation — instead gaining $300,000 on the original retail price.

The F-22 Raptor-inspired hypercar is capable of 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 340km/h thanks to its 470kW 6.5-litre V12 engine.

Motorexpo director Graeme Carver explained the star power of the Reventon:

“The appearance, let alone sale, of a car as rare as the Lamborghini Reventon is sure to attract a large number of supercar enthusiasts and collectors to Motorexpo this summer.”

Other supercars featured at the auction will include models from Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Maserati and Pagani.

You won’t need to pay the same sort of money to get a glimpse of the Reventon though — entry to the Motorexpo is free (although it’ll cost you a few bucks to get to London).

Mercedes has confirmed it will begin production of a rival to the Porsche 911 called the SLC.

Speaking to British motoring magazine Auto Express, Mercedes design boss Gordon Wagener said the announcement was made off the record at the Beijing Motor Show earlier in the week.

The two-door coupe has been put together by both Mercedes’ regular car division and its performance specialists, AMG. It will slot into the manufacturer’s mid-size line-up and function as a more affordable “baby SLS”.

No official powertrain details are available yet, though both a V8 and V6 option are likely.

Besides the Porsche 911, another obvious rival for the SLC is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Both cars retail for around $250,000 so expect the SLC to cost a similar amount when it launches in mid-2014.