Honda Canada Hacked: 250,000+ Customers Affected By Security Breach

Less than a month after Sony�s Playstation Network was compromised by hackers seeking personal information, a similar mishap has struck the Canadian arm of Honda / Acura. In a notice to its customers, the Japanese automaker revealed:

�The incident involved the unauthorized access of information as held in our records in 2009, specifically name, address, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and in a small number of cases, Honda Financial Services account numbers.�

It is believed that as many as 283,321 have been affected by the security breach. Honda Canada Executive VP Jerry Chenkin released a statement saying: �The information was limited and is not typically used for the purposes of identity theft or fraud. We would like to sincerely apologize to our Canadian customers for this incident. Honda and Acura are working diligently to protect our customers' personal information and improve our data security procedures on an ongoing basis.�

Wanted: Responsible Person to Drive World�s Top Supercars

How�s this for a dream job? Britain�s Repairacar is seeking a very special someone who can drive supercars from a customer�s address to one of their repair shops and back. It�s all very glamorous � the opportunity to drive supercars as diverse as Aston Martins, Ferraris and even the occasional Zonda or Bugatti Veyron � though it does include some taking of public transport.

A company spokesperson explains:�[The successful applicant] will also be expected to make their own way back to base from any corner of the UK and Europe � using public transport.�

So what they�re offering are a couple of hours on a bus or train in return for the chance to drive a selection of the world�s greatest supercars? Who could say no? Well, Repairacar, for one. You see, they�re not just looking for any Tom, Dick or Harry:

Canadian Joy Rider Takes BMW for a Spin, gets Caught going 240km/h - 150mph

An unnamed 20-year old man in a BMW (reportedly an SUV model) was arrested by police in Montreal on Saturday for driving 240 km/h or 150 mph on the A-720 highway in a 70 km/h or 44 mph speed zone. And here's where the story gets a bit more interesting as not only is this one of the worst cases of speeding in the country's history, but according to the police, the BMW did not belong to the young man. Some Canadian newspapers are even suggesting the man may have been a hotel valet that took the car for a late night spin on the highway.

The Montreal Gazette said local police "would neither confirm nor deny reports" he was a valet at a downtown Montreal hotel, and that he was taking out a guest's BMW for a joyride

Sgt. Guy Lapointe of the Quebec provincial police told The Star, "The only thing that I can tell you is that there have been no reports of a theft of the vehicle that was pulled over". CBC reported that the police said "the car has now been returned to its owner".

Hotel valet or not, the joy rider's "need for speed" earned him a hefty CA$2,598 (equal to about US$2,623 or �1,932) fine and 42 demerit points, which means he loses his license for at least six months.

This 1980 Toyota Corolla TE71 Packs a Big-Block 454 / 7.4-liter Chevy V8

Let us introduce you to our find of the day; a 1980 Toyota Corolla TE71 Coupe retrofitted with a big brawny classic American V8 powerplant. This wolf in sheep's clothing was once powered by a small four-cylinder engine but now comes with a 454 cubic inch (equal to 7.4-liters) big block Chevrolet V8 powerhouse that drives the wheels through GM's Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission.

According to the eBay seller, "with 13 inch tires it only goes about 65 [we'll assume he's talking about mph here] at 4000 rpms, but it gets there in about 4 seconds" and while driveable, the car needs some TLC to be road-worthy. The current bid on eBay is $3,251 but the reserve has not been met yet.

The Upgradeable Car: A Software Influenced Future for the Auto Industry

As an automotive blogger that also works in the IT industry, I feel I have a somewhat unique perspective on in-car technology. Whereas a new car may have a three to five year buffer between upgrades and replacement models, for electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers it's more like six to eighteen months.

This brings up an interesting conundrum: what to do when the sat nav or Bluetooth devices in your car age more quickly than the car itself? Few people this side of Dhiaa Al-Essa can afford to replace their car every six months, so the answer - to automakers at least - is to do the same as software companies: roll out upgrades.

It could be something as simple as the dealership checking your oil and tire pressure remotely to recalibrating the transmission or updating the car's sat nav system. San Francisco based Cisco Systems has even constructed an experimental dashboard out of LCD panels that acts as a giant touch screen: driver's can drag and drop instruments, personalize the look and feel of said instruments and add new functions such as g-force meters.

Poll: Should GM give in and call the Volt a hybrid?

Apart from the humorous articles and the plethora of eBay finds we come up with, Carscoop�s bread and butter is automotive news straight from the manufacturer. And as such, we read a lot of press releases. In all the ones I�ve read, General Motors refuses to call the Chevrolet Volt a hybrid. It�s a range extended electric vehicle.

I speculate that it might have something to do with hybrids being uncool (so sayeth GM CEO Dan Akerson) or to avoid comparisons with that other hybrid. You know, the one made by the world�s other biggest car manufacturer.

So let�s hear the cases for and against:

Yes, GM should call the Volt a hybrid and here�s why:

A hybrid, by definition, is a vehicle that has two or more powerplants. In most cases, one is an electric motor and the other is a gasoline engine. There�s no requirement that these run in tandem, or be connected to one another in any way. More than one powerplant and you have a hybrid. And let�s face it: GM isn�t trying to lure buyers away from the Nissan Leaf or the Mitsubishi iMiev; their target is and always has been the Toyota Prius. And what�s the Prius, children? �A hybrid!� In a dumbed down worldview, nobody wanted to buy a Saturn Green Line so this was Option B. The Volt looks like a hybrid, is mechanically like a hybrid and was designed to compete with hybrids. For this, the Volt is one and the same.

No, GM should call the Volt a range extended electric vehicle and here�s why:

The Prius uses its electric motor at low speeds, when idling and when overtaking. The rest of the time it�s running on its gasoline engine alone. On the other hand, the Volt engages its gasoline engine only when its electric motor has run out of juice. Like a WWII submarine limping home on its diesel engines after its batteries have run dry. So if anything, the Volt is like a Nissan Leaf with the added security of a gasoline engine making sure you don�t end up on the hard shoulder, waiting for the AAA man to come along with a very long extension cord. For this, the Volt is a range extended electric vehicle.

So where do you stand? Do you buy GM�s marketing buzz or do you side with the cynics? Cast your vote and leave us a comment.

It Came from eBay Hell: �80s VW Golf Stretch Limo with Mercedes Nose

So you want your own limousine? Sure, I can dig that. Who hasn�t thought of trading in their daily commute for something that�s chauffer driven? And what better place to start your search than on eBay, where you�re sure to find something both unique and affordable, if not exactly well built or driveable.

Here�s one such find, based on a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf for the rest of the world) with a Mercedes-Benz nose piece. The seller�s description reveals that this vehicle has new brakes, struts, a new exhaust, new wheels and tires, new windshield and gas tank. And it still has its original motor and transmission, with a twin barrel carburettor with aluminium intake and header which the seller assures us makes it, �Fast for what it is.�

Inside there are two bench seats facing each other, and an electrically operated tinted glass partition that can separate the passengers from the driver. Classy.

The interior is in need of a lot of attention, though. There�s no headliner, no carpet and the custom interior panels have yet to be fitted. The air conditioning�s not hooked up and there�s no sound system, either. The car�s also missing a, �Few other odds and ends.�

On the upside, it has a clear title and the car comes with a fixer upper GTI engine and a white rabbit plush toy that has been stretched and has a VW hat on its head. Sadly there are no pictures of the latter. The starting price is a low, low US$4,999.00 (�3,676). Price for a first generation Rabbit, but not bad for something with such...uh...�unique qualities.�

The strange this is, this car has been on sale before, almost two years ago. And it was in the exact same state it�s in now. We don�t know what this means, except maybe that the owner grew tired of working on it. Take that however you want, and leave your comments below.

1955 Ford "Beatnik" Bubbletop Custom Concept going up for Auction

Making its way down to Florida for RM Auction's annual Amelia Island even on March 2, is this 1955 Ford "Beatnink" Bubbletop custom concept inspired by futuristic design studies from the 1950s. Despite its name, the Beatnik is a fairly new creation built by Gary �Chopit� Fioto. It is based on the body of a 1955 Ford model but rides on a modifies chassis of a 1988 Lincoln Town Car and is powered by a Chevrolet 350-cubic inch small-block V8 engine.

The brand mixing doesn't stop there as Fioto used a variety of components from Cadillac, Chrysler and Lincoln, including the canted quad headlights. The front bumper was adapted from a '59 Cadillac, while the rear bumper was fashioned from the front bumper of a '58 Cadillac. In addition, the finned taillights are sourced from a 1960 Chrysler. However, the front and rear fenders, the door skins and the entire rear section of the car were all hand formed.

The one-of-a-kind model, which took four years of hard work to create, also features a bespoke interior complete with an aircraft control yoke-inspired steering wheel and a rounded dash pod as a tribute to the late 1950s and early 1960s concept cars from Detroit.

Russian Customizer Turns a Jaguar into a GAZ-21 Lookalike

Previously on Carscoop, we�ve seen Pontiac Fieros turned into �Fierarris�, Toyota Soarers adorned with Mercedes-Benzes off cuts and some others too hideous to even mention. For the most part, it�s a case of turning a boring, mainstream car into something that resembles a high-priced exotic if you�re squinting through grease paper with the sun in your eyes and have lost a lot of blood.

What you rarely see is something exotic transformed into something that some people would call mundane. That�d just be silly. Never to be one to shy away from a challenge, the Russians have done just that: taken a Jag and turned it into a GAZ.

Originally this car was a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 with an automatic transmission and a 3.2 L V6. Its exterior has been adorned with the grille, head- and taillights, unique side vents and boot emblem from a �70s Volga. It�s not quite in the same league as the BMW 6-series derived Volga V8 Roadster or the Porsche Cayenne-based �Lenin-mobile�, but it�s still an impressive transformation.