If there was ever a prize for the most spied car this year, it should go to the new Porsche 991, which we will come to know as the latest generation of the 911. Our spy shooters have caught up with a variety of prototypes ranging from the standard Carrera coupe all the way up to the Turbo Convertible.

This time they snagged what looks to be either the Carrera or the Carrera S, possibly in final production trim as the car was fitted with the white protective strips we normally find on vehicles that are to be transported. There's also a tag on the passenger seat, but we couldn't zoom close enough to make out what it says.

The Lotus Elise and Exige will soon be a thing of the past for North American fans of the brand (though both cars will continue to be offered in other markets), but if our spies prove to be right, the British firm is already cooking up a replacement, at least for the Exige coupe.

Our man with the long lens snagged these pictures of a mid-engined Lotus prototype during testing. But how can we be sure that this the Exige, we hear some of you ask?

Well, the test car does not bear any resemblance to the recent Lotus concept models shown in Paris last year so given the prototype's shape and size, the most plausible explanation is a replacement for the Exige.

Fiat's engineers are putting the final touches on the third generation of the Italian firm's best-seller in the mini segment, the Panda, which will make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September before going on sale in select European markets by the end of the year, with the rest to follow in early 2012.

If you're weren’t content with our recent spy photographs of the prototype 2012 Panda, you might want to take a look at this video that was said to have been filmed in Napoli, Italy.

Just a couple of days after we brought you a first look at Mercedes-Benz's sporty looking small sedan that will probably carry the CLC nameplate when it enters production in 2013, we have a fresh collection of scoop photos.

The rakish looking CLC is a spin-off of Mercedes-Benz's new A-Class family using a long wheelbase version of the latter's MFA platform. Think of the CLC as a much more affordable version of the CLS four-door coupe featuring a similar design applied on a smaller package.

One of Carscoop's alert readers managed to scoop these two photographs of what we believe to be a prototype of the next generation of the BMW 3-Series sedan out testing in Los Angeles.

This is the sixth generation of BMW's hugely popular sports sedan model. Aside from the evolutionary styling changes, the big news for the F30 3-Series is the introduction of a new range of four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engines with a displacement of 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter delivering between 135HP and 245-horsepower.

Truth to be said, we've spied the upcoming Porsche 991 -that's Porsche talk for the next generation of the 911- more times than we can remember these past few months. In fact, just earlier today we brought you some fresh spy shots of the 2013 Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible.

So what's new about these latest scoop pictures? Well, we get a clearer look at both the regular coupe and convertible models of the 911 series without any of that annoying body camouflage.

However, Porsche's engineers have retained the fake surrounds on the headlamps and taillights to confuse us (insert tongue-in-cheek comment here) on the appearance of the 991.

Our spy photographers continue to capture test mules of the upcoming, next generation Porsche 911, which is internally referred to as the 991, ahead of the sports car world premiere at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

We have already shown you the regular 911 Carrera models in both coupe and convertible format as well as the 911 Turbo and what we believe is the 911 Turbo S coupe, but now we have some fresh spy shots of the 911 Turbo Convertible with its top down, caught during hot weather testing.

If you are still wondering how Mercedes-Benz plans to beat its German competition and take the reins from the likes of BMW and Audi in the premium car segment, the new CLC sports saloon is just one example of how the Stuttgart-based company intends to proceed in the future and lure more customers to its brand.

Mercedes-Benz insiders rightfully describe the CLC (note that the company may use a different name for the production car) as a "baby CLS".

The latter was the German firm's first sporty looking sedan and it essentially established a category that many automakers and the press alike are akin to calling "four-door coupes" (feel free to agree or disagree with the term).

Once upon a time, not too long ago, you could count BMW's model series on one hand. For example, in the 1980s you had the 3-Series, the 5-Series, the 6-Series and the 7-Series.

Nowadays, you need both hands and very soon, that is after the launch of the two i-Series models and the rumored introduction of more nameplates into the range, you'll probably lose track even if you asked a friend to lend a helping hand…

One of the newest and perhaps most controversial projects BMW is working on now is the development of a new front-wheel drive hatchback currently known by the acronym F.A.S.T. which stands for Family Activity Sports Tourer.

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.

Last time we wrote about the 2012 Honda CR-V, it concerned a prototype, a blogger and four-vehicle accident – not the best of news for the Japanese company. Now, thanks to the Honda-loving crew over at Temple of Vtec and scoopster Brenda Priddy, we have video footage of the next-generation CR-V crossover testing on the road.

The spied 2012 CR-Vs are wearing less camouflage than usual with only the front and parts of the rear end wrapped up in black plastic.

The ninth generation Civic hatchback for the European market will soon make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September but Honda has provided us with a sneak peak of the five-door model with photos of a camouflaged prototype and a video explaining the changes under the body.

The Civic hatchback has been designed exclusively for Europe and will continue to be a separate model from the North American four-door sedan and two-door coupe variants with which it shares the same name.

We knew that Audi was working on a more spirited version of its "new luxury" A8 flagship sedan and now we have some fresh spy photos as the Germans put the final touches on the S8 before its official premiere later this year, possibly as early as the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

The big news is that VW Group is hushing in a new generation of engines for its performance orientated models and the 2012 Audi S8 is no exception.

The new sporty limousine will drop the previous model's naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, which was shared with Lamborghini, in favor of a newly developed 4.0-liter turbocharged V8.

Car accidents, be they fender benders or more serious crashes can happen to anyone and anywhere, but what's special about this incident is that it involves a prototype of the upcoming 2012 Honda CR-V, which was recently previewed with a thinly disguised concept study.

We're not quite sure how it happened, but the collision that took place in California involved four vehicles amongst which the 2012 CR-V test mule, a Lexus RX and a Toyota Highlander.

With the new ML-Class unwrapped and ready for launch, Mercedes-Benz engineers have turned their development attention on the SUV's more spacious sibling with three-rows of seats, the GL-Class.

The development test car pictured is still hiding under a lot of camouflage but it's not particularly hard to imagine what the second-generation of the GL-Class will look like given that it is based on the 2012 ML.

Following the announcement on the time and place of the premiere of the all-new 2013 Lexus GS 350 –that would be the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 18th for those of you that didn’t read our previous story- the Japanese company lifted the embargo on the first test drive of the car in the States.

Invitees include names like Car&Driver, Autoweek and Motor Trend. Naturally, the exterior of the pre-production test cars were bagged in plastic, but their interiors were largely free of camouflage (see links below for photos) revealing an edgier LF-A-esque design with lots of stitched leather on the dashboard and a gigantic 12.3-inch information screen above the center console.

One of Europe’s most popular people carriers, the Renault Scenic, is about to receive its first cosmetic refresh to stay ahead of the fierce competition in the compact segment.

The current, third generation of Renault’s minivan was launched onto the European market in 2009 and is available as the five-seat Scenic and the longer 7-seat Grand Scenic. Though we can’t be 100 percent sure, the prototype caught by our spy photographers appears to be the shorter Scenic model.

One could try to explain why such a hotly anticipated new model like the 2012 Porsche 911 was caught out in the open alone (?) and almost completely undisguised, but why bother; it is what it is and you can enjoy the clip and get your first unobstructed view of the 991 in the video after the break.

We’ll just remind you that the next generation of the 911 is due to be unveiled in a world premiere at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in mid-September.

The most famous Porsche model series of all, will mostly likely be offered in two basic flavors at launch, the Carrera with a 350HP 3.4-liter flat-six and the Carrera S powered by a 3.8-liter boxer delivering around 400 ponies.

Show any Porsche 911 to someone old enough to remember when Memorial Day was called Decoration Day, and chances are he or she will probably know the brand and model of the car. But ask someone to tell your which version they’re looking at and you’ll have a pretty hard time getting the right answer unless they’re a true Porschephile.

Take this 911 for example; even our experienced scoop photographers aren’t 100 percent sure about this 2012 Porsche 991 prototype that they bagged testing in Europe.

The chunky rear section with the blistered wheel arches and air-intakes along with the double wing at the back featuring a fixed lower part and a retractable upper section, leave few doubts that this is the new 911 Turbo.

Maybe you can help us out here. A Carscoop reader, who prefers to remain anonymous, nabbed these photos of an identical pair of camouflaged prototype sedans at a tollbooth in Ohio.

The photos were shot from a distance with a cell phone camera, so it’s difficult to tell the brand and make of the vehicles. Our unnamed reader told us that the front end looked like a Cadillac but the rest of the car reminded him of a Buick, and we’ll agree with him.