Days of Gravel: Tom Cruise Drives Red Bull F1 Racecar

It’s not every day that you see a Hollywood megastar driving a racing car. Sure, many of them own one (or 10) supercars, and some, like former 90210 Beverly Hills lead Jason Priestley and Grey’s Anatomy Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd, aka Patrick Dempsey, double in motor racing as a hobby.

And no one can forget the late Paul Newman who competed as a professional racing driver from 1972 until 2005 winning, among other things, his class in the 24 hours of Daytona at the age of 70 years and 8 days. He was also the co-founder and owner of the successful Newman/Haas Racing Champ Car team.

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Pink Panther Car to be Auctioned Off

Two unique Hollywood vehicles will go under the hummer at the Chelsea Auto Legends Show on September 4. The first is one of the rarest and most spectacular cars ever produced: the bespoke “Panthermobile” created for NBC’s Pink Panther TV show that ran from 1969 until 1976.

The 42-year old “Panthermobile” is in original condition, but according to the seller, it needs some restoration. Its engine is not running, though it did when its current owner bought it to another auction in 2007. Nevertheless, it’s not street-legal anyway… Its sale estimate is between £50,000 and £100,000 (US$81,000-$162,000).

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Blast from the Not So Far Past: Richard Hammond Blows up a Hummer

The 17th season of Top Gear recently ended with the airing of the sixth and last episode on August 2. For those of you in the States that happened to miss some or all of the episodes, we have good news as BBC America has begun releasing preview clips from the 17th season.

In the first release, we get a two-minute-long video from episode 1 with Richard Hammond trying out the Marauder, which is a South African-built armored vehicle.

During the test, Hammond compares the Marauder with the Hummer to see which one can withstand a blast from seven pounds of plastic explosives. Hit the break to watch the video.

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Largest Ever Display of James Bond Movie Cars Coming in 2012

If you're an automotive fan that also happens to like the James Bond films, then you're in for a treat.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 007 franchise, the National Motor Museum in cooperation with Beaulieu and EON Productions (the latter co-owns, with MGM, the copyright to the James Bond films), will hold the largest exhibition of James Bond vehicles ever displayed to the public.

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“Boiler Room” Director Involved in Formula 1 Movie Project

Movies about car racing are not a flourishing genre. Despite some sporadic successes such as the 1971 “Le Mans” film with Steve McQueen and the gorgeous Porsche 917, we all remember “Driven” starring Sylvester Stallone sitting behind the wheel of an Indycar, in plain clothes, at night, chasing his teammate through traffic after stealing the cars from a gala. What a nightmare…

In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk about making a movie about Formula 1. And mostly about one of its most tragic heroes: Ayrton Senna. Hollywood hotshots such as directors Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard and actor Tobie “Spiderman” Maguire were, at one point or another, linked to the film. However, Bernie Ecclestone’s financial demands, among other things, didn’t let any project come to fruition.

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Video: Meet the Jokes of Hazzard

Do you know how many people have tried to imitate the driving tricks of the Dukes of Hazzard in real life over the years? As you may have already guessed, the answer to that question is countless - as are the accidents related to these types of stunts.

In this edition, we have a doppelganger in a General Lee Dodge Charger replica trying to jump over a copy of Sheriff's Roscoe P. Coltrane patrol car. And while our driver managed to pull off the jump-over-the-vehicle part he failed miserably in the landing portion of the stunt.

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Man Attempts to Carjack Undercover Cop in Pittsburgh, Blames Batman Movie!

Apparently, Christian Bale as Batman and Tom Hardy as the Bane filming scenes for the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" (see the videos here) weren't the only protagonists at downtown Pittsburgh this past weekend.

According to news reports from the local media, a young man tried to hijack an unmarked police vehicle near filming for the latest Batman movie, and when the officer arrested him, he claimed that it was part of the movie script for "The Dark Knight Rises"!

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Scooped: New Batmobile Tumbler from The Dark Knight Rises Filmed During Shoot in Pittsburgh

In about a year's time (that would be summer of 2012), Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise will continue with the third movie in the series called "The Dark Knight Rises". Actor Christian Bale will return as the Caped Crusader and will go against Bane (played by Tom Hardy) and Selina Kyle, aka the Catwoman (Anne Hathaway).

Also making its return to the movie is the Caped Crusader's Batmobile, also known as the Tumbler from the previous films.

Shooting of the movie commenced in May this year in India and now continues in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a couple of individuals managed to capture an array of videos of the latest Tumbler while on the move as well as during filming of some scenes.

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