Blown up Tank Arrives in front of Kim DotCom's New Zealand Mansion

Even though Kim DotCom, otherwise known as Kim Schmitz, is currently behind bars awaiting possible extradition to the United States after a New Zealand judge denied an application for bail on Wednesday, the founder of the popular file-sharing website MegaUpload continues to make headlines for reasons not related directly to his case.

After his amazing collection of luxury cars were seized by police last Friday, we thought that would be the last we heard about DotCom's toys.

Apparently, we were wrong as it has been reported by several New Zealand newspapers that after his arrest, Dotcom's mansion received delivery of a…full-size inflatable replica of a Russian T-72 tank!

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$1.4 Million Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe gets Soaked in Australia

We don't know what's more annoying about this video that shows a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe in Adelaide, Australia, with its top down being drenched in rainwater, reportedly for at least half an hour: the careless owner that didn't come out to see what was going on or the indifferent bypassers whose only concern was to film the spectacle.

According to news reports from Australia, the convertible Rolls-Royce, which costs upwards of AU$1.35 million, the damages to the car's interior from the rain may cost the owner as much as AU$100,000. Watch the rainy clip in the video after the jump.

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Toyota Cutting 350 Jobs in Australia Due to Slowing Demand

In a rare move for Toyota, the Japanese automaker announced today that it is axing 350 jobs at its Australian plant in Altona, Victoria, due to what the company describes as "unprecedented operating conditions".

The job cuts will affect manufacturing and production workers as well as the firm's management.

Toyota Australia President and CEO, Max Yasuda, said the extremely strong Australian dollar, which has risen to its highest position in six weeks against the US dollar, along with the global economic crisis that saw reduced demand from the local division's main export markets such as the Middle East, are to blame.

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First Drive: Holden Caprice V Series II with 6.0-liter V8

The car that most Americans know as the Chevy Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) owes as much to the Australian designed and built Holden Caprice luxury sedan reviewed here as the latter owes to business decisions Ford Australia made a couple of decades ago.

In the early 1970s, Holden – GM’s Australian subsidiary – introduced two new models to compete with local rival Ford. The first was the Statesman, a vehicle with no Holden badging whatsoever, designed as a direct competitor to Ford’s Australian-built Fairlane and as a replacement for the unloved Brougham sedan.

A few years later came the Statesman Caprice, an even more luxurious model, introduced to compete with Ford’s freshly minted LTD.

Thus the Caprice name was born. Over the years the Caprice has grown in interior room, price and standard equipment but retains the same basic idea of what Aussie luxury should be. We took the V8 engined V Series II model out for a week long road test and review.

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Police Seize MegaUpload Founder's Vast Collection of Luxury and Exotic Cars [Video + Photos]

You've no doubt heard by now about the U.S. indictment against the owners of the popular file-sharing site MegaUpload, which was shut down by feds on Thursday and which triggered a massive cyber-attack from Anonymous on a number of government websites including the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Today we also learn that the police seized a number of assets from the founder of MegaUpload, Kim Schmitz, aka Kimble, aka Kim Dotcom, including an amazing collection of automobiles with some rib-tickling license plates from his estate in New Zealand.

Twitter user Elliot Kamber was on hand to take a few shots of the cars that were seized, while we've also added a video after the break.

Among the vehicles taken from Schmitz's garage were a 2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM with "Good" number plates, a 2010 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG with a "CEO" plate, a pink 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, a 1989 Lamborghini LM002 and a 2010 Maserati GranCabrio. The cars are estimated to be worth over $6 million.

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Crazy Holden Torana with Blown Chevy Puts Out 1,584 WHP

Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing. With a few exceptions like the sporty six-cylinder GTR XU1 and the 5.0-litre V8 powered SLR 5000 editions, the Holden Torana was a run-of-the mill compact model with plain Jane looks and lackluster performance.

But in the world of tuning and drag racing even the Torana can be transformed into a terrifying beast. Meet Jakes Edward's latest Torana sedan fitted with a massive 496ci (8.2-liter) turbocharged V8 Chevrolet engine that runs on methanol fuel.

At this month's Summernats festival in Canberra, Australia, Edward's yellow Holden took part and won the "Horsepower Heroes" competition as it yielded 1,584.5 wheel horsepower on the dyno! Watch the Aussie-made monster in the video after the break.

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Cadillac Refocuses on Global Markets, is Preparing Right-Hand Drive CTS-V

With around 34% of the world's population driving on the left hand side of the road, in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Japan, any automaker that aspires to go global needs to produce right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles.

With only a few exceptions like the fifth generation Seville (built from 1998 to 2004), Cadillac has for the most part shied away from RHD markets. But this is about to change as the wreath and crest brand is getting more serious about increasing its presence in markets outside of North America.

Aside from the product presentations like the new BMW 3-Series rivaling ATS sedan that will eventually be offered with a diesel option as well, Cadillac is also getting ready to introduce right-hand drive models.

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Holden's Version of the Volt to Cost Over $60,000 in Australia!

Bad news for Australian drivers interested in GM's Chevrolet Volt as the local version of the car that will be marketed under the Holden brand and which is expected to arrive later this year will reportedly cost well over AU$60,000 (equal to US$62,000).

While Holden has yet to publicly announce prices, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that GM's subsidiary told its dealers that the Volt will carry a retail price of AU$59,990 before on-road and dealer costs, which the newspaper says rises to as much as AU$66,000 (US$68,200) with the aforementioned fees.

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Beware of Flying Objects: Cameraman gets Hit in the Head by a Piece of Tire

Every profession has its dangers, some more hazardous than others. For this cameraman who was filming an early 1970s Holden HQ sedan doing a heavy burnout at the Summernats festival in Canberra, Australia, the danger came from a flying piece of rubber that smacked him right in the head and knocking him down. Ouch...

Watch the video after the jump.

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Tesla Tweaks Roadster for its Final Run in Europe, Asia and Australia

While the Tesla Roadster is no longer in production for the North American market, the pure-electric open-top model will continue to be available for a little longer in other regions.

To mark the final year of production for Europe, Asia and Australia, Tesla introduced a revised version of the Roadster with new options and enhanced features.

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Purple Haze: Aussie Ford Falcon XA Coupe's Colorful Burnout

The Summernats is an annual festival for gearheads that takes place in the Australian capital city of Canberra in January drawing some 1,500 heavily modded street machines along with more than 80,000 visitors from Australia and overseas.

Among the highlights of the four-day long car fest is the burnout battle. In this year's event, one of the more impressive burnouts came courtesy of Gary Myers who fitted his tuned 1972 Ford Falcon XA Coupe with a set of purple tires.

You can see the result in the video that follows after the break.

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1970s Toyota Corolla Sleeper with Nissan V6 Turbo Runs 1/4 Mile in 11s

We all love us some cool sleepers and what a better mechanical wolf in sheepskin than a third generation Toyota Corolla sedan [KE30 series] from the mid-1970s with a completely stock look right up to the rear window shades sporting a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 Nissan engine under its tiny hood.

The ride comes to us from Australia and according to the blokes over at FullBoost, it was created in just four weeks' time. The force-fed VQ30 is linked to a ZX five-speed manual gearbox while the car runs on 14-inch tires.

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Built Aussie Tough: Firefighter Truck Plunges into the Deep Like a Boss

The city of Melbourne is one of the best cities to live in, not only in Australia but in the world. Nevertheless, it can also drive you crazy with its variable weather conditions; one minute it's nice and warm and the other you get pounded by rain or even severe hail storms, as happened on Christmas day this year.

In fact, aside from the huge hailstones that damaged around 10,000 vehicles, the ferocious Christmas Day storms that hit Melbourne and northwest Victoria sparked some heavy flash flooding in certain areas.

But the flooded roads were no match for some Aussie firefighters who didn’t even blink an eye when their Isuzu truck plunged into very deep waters of what looks like a street somewhere in the Melbourne suburb of Eltham. Still here? Just go and watch the video we've got after the break.

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Christmas Day Hail Storm Damages More than 10,000 Cars in Melbourne, Australia

Several Melbourne car owners may be experiencing the holiday blues these days - the reason being the severe hail storms that hit the capital of Victoria on Christmas Day, causing damage to thousands of buildings and vehicles.

Insurers are bracing themselves up for the claims that will follow, with the Insurance Council of Australia declaring the event a catastrophe.

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Great Balls of Fire: Racing Driver Wins Rally even though his Lamborghini was Burning up

Most people, even professional drivers, would probably pull aside on the road if their vehicle caught on fire, but not racing car driver Jason White and his navigator John White.

In the middle of the Targa High Country 2011 race, which took place at Mt Buller in Australia during the first weekend of November, the dynamic duo noticed that the rear-end of their brand-new $600,000 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale was up in flames.

But instead of calling it a day, the Tasmanians decided to continue the race – and guess what; despite the fact that their Lambo was slowly roasting, they actually managed to win the race!

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Holden Rumored to Decide on the Future of the Commodore by the End of December

Once a production hub, Australia's motoring industry is now facing the prospect of losing one of its most acclaimed model series, the Holden Commodore (and apparently, its Caprice derivatives) after the upcoming redesign, which is scheduled for 2013.

While production of the 2013 Commodore VF will endure at least until 2017, The Sydney Morning Herald (via its Drive car site) is reporting today that Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux confirmed that the brand will decide on its local manufacturing future beyond 2018 before the end of December.

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Toyota Debuts New 2012 Camry Sedan in Australia [52 Photos]

Toyota continues its global roll out of the seventh-generation of its Camry sedan with the Australian launch. The down-under version of Toyota's bestseller is identical to the North American model sans for the interior fabrics, colour, and trim as well as the steering and suspension settings that were adapted for the local market.

The Australian Camry is produced in Melbourne with the factory being heavily dependent on exports, mainly to the Middle East region.

"Camry will be a significant contributor to the Australian and Victorian economies, and holds the key to a strong future for the local automotive sector," said Toyota Australia senior executive director sales and marketing, David Buttner.

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Video: Was This a Dangerously Close Call or a Ballsy Move?

A minor spat has broken out on Youtube over whether or not a Lotus Exige GT3 traveling close to 250km/h [155mph] should have passed in between a Mazda MX-5 and a Porsche Boxster during the Production Sports Cars CUE Enduro Series held at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia.

If you watch the first video shot from an inboard camera on the MX-5, it looks like a rocket ship flew by inches away from the Japanese roadster. In fact, it all happens so fast that you have to actually pause the video to see the Exige GT3 driven by Barton Mawer.

According to the Philip Island Circuit's official website, the driver in the No66 MX-5 was Michael Hall. Here's what he said on Youtube:

"I'm chasing down a Porsche Boxster in the #66 Mazda MX5 whilst trying to hang onto the lead of Class E. Meanwhile Barton Mawer is trying to hunt down Alan Simonsen in the Lambo for the overall lead, and obviously not in the mood to waste any time."

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2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Modestly Refreshed in Australia

While Hyundai's engineers are working on the development of the next generation of the Santa Fe, which may carry the iX45 moniker in select regions, the Korea firm is presenting a 2012 model year version of the crossover with some very subtle cosmetic and equipment upgrades in Australia.

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Helicopter Crashes While Installing Giant Christmas Tree, Pilot Walks Away Unharmed! [Video]

A chopper that was using cables to help install a seven-story Christmas tree in central Auckland, New Zealand, crashed down to the ground on Wednesday morning.

Miraculously, the pilot, Greg Gribble, escaped virtually unharmed with only minor injuries, while no one else was hurt, despite the fact that workers were very close by under the helicopter when the incident occurred.

Television crews captured the dramatic footage showing the helicopter descending towards the waterfront when all of a sudden it started jolting like crazy before hitting the ground.

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