2008 Infiniti Qx56 Base Sport Utility 4-door 5.6l on 2040-cars

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Grand Prix of the Americas, Day 1 Recap: a city arose in the fields, and it was good

The Circuit of the Americas is the miracle in the fields, the track that no one thought would be finished in time to hold its appointed race. But the Texans got past the turmoil, and even though the heavy machinery was still working on dirt roads as July, come November 18 there was a beautiful, and completed, Formula 1 facility for Travis County to call its own. It was dusty, sure. But it was done, and F1 could come to town.
Infiniti, sponsors of Red Bull Racing, invited Autoblog to watch the first grand prix in America since 2007, and the first GP on a dedicated F1 course since the Phoenix street circuit in 1991. Here's a little recap of what we saw and fount out on day one.

Infiniti Q30 Concept might be the cleverest Q model yet

When we first got official word of the Infiniti Q30 Concept, the Japanese automaker said that the crossover's "harmonious contrasts and dissymmetric philosophy" would "make an emotional connection with customers spontaneously." Now, we might not be heads of design studios or directors of marketing departments, but we're pretty sure we can translate that to: "The production Q30 will compete with the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class."
In all seriousness (if we can say that of a concept car painted a sort of rose metallic), the Q30 concept looks fetching here in Frankfurt; its rather convoluted and flowing bodywork just carried off successfully because of its grownup hatchback proportions and, frankly, huge wheels. The Q30 could seemingly slot into the current, attractive Infiniti range of production cars and not look amiss (though we'd prefer a color palette that looks a little less like Grandma's sitting room sofa).
Look above for our live images of the Infiniti Q30 Concept from the show floor in Frankfurt, below for stock pictures of the thing, or scroll down to re-read the breathless press release.

Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.