Atlantis A2700c Whistle With Clip Black on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: The Legend of Ludacris, McLaren engine removal and the Lotus Seven

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Want to see a McLaren F1 get major surgery?

Where did the word 'automobile' come from?

On Jan. 3, 1899, the New York Times printed the word "automobile" upon its austere pages. It wasn't the first publication to do so; Scientific American used the phrase "automobile carriage" in a May 14, 1898, review of the Winton Motor Carriage, but the Grey Lady -- a more influential publication -- was the first to debate the term.

Design Review: Smart For-US concept

First seen NAIAS 2012 Design studio Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios, Sindelfingen, Germany Type 2-seat pickup Dimensions (L | W | H) 3,547 | 1,506 | 1,701 mm Wheel size 18-inch ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Daimler’s Smart brand has bombed in the US market since its introduction in 2008. That first year proved modestly successful, with 25,000 units sold but since then sales have fallen off a cliff, with just 5,927 shifted in 2010. Seeing the ForTwo dicing with big-foot pickups and Hummer limos in Vegas, it’s easy to see why something has been lost in translation.