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The late eighties is when it all happened for Japanese luxury vehicles in North America. But by the time Lexus and Infiniti launched in 1989, Acura was already on the market for three years. Since then, Acura customers in the U.S. looking to finance new cars went through the same American Honda Finance Corporation that bankrolls the purchases of new Honda cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, lawnmowers, outboard marine engines and everything else the Japanese industrial giant builds (to the possible exception of corporate jets and robots), not to mention the establishment of new dealerships and all that entails.

That's all about the change with American Honda Motor Co.'s announcement of the launch of Acura Financial Services, a new financing arm for the company's luxury division that will handle the purchases of new Acuras. The move is part of an effort to distance Acura from the more commonplace offerings of its parent company, and to give the division its own look and feel. A strange time to launch a new financial company,

Aston Martin One-77 made its first appearance as a completed car last weekend. So now that the car is moving under its own power, the question is what does £1 million (currently about $1.47 million) sound like?

We know to expect the unexpected when it comes to aftermarket work in certain Middle Eastern enclaves. But this... this is, well, this is something that even Tim Burton would have to dismiss as just too outrageous. Part of what makes this car even more interesting is that it was the product of Swiss tuning firm Ueli Anliker Design, and as such, it is called the Anliker McLaren SLR 999 Red Gold Dream.

What was once a standard SLR (may God have mercy on its soul) now has a cow catcher up front, a Mustang wing out back, and 24 karat gold and rubies plastered throughout.

[Source: Supercars Dubai]

Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are announcing an equipment safety recall on the Japanese automaker's 2008 Highlanders and Highlander Hybrid models.

On the 2008 model year crossover, the optional stainless steel exhaust tip retention clamp apparently has a manufacturing defect that can cause it to develop microscopic cracks, and in the worst case, fall off. We're not entirely clear on why this warrants a full-blown safety recall (perhaps to avoid the possibility of road debris), but in any case, NHTSA reports that ten incidents have been filed and the recall is moving forward. Overall, only 39,100 clamps are suspected to be flawed, but Toyota is notifying all 121,000 Highlander owners in case they bought the add-on exhaust finisher at their local dealer's parts counter.

You can read the full press release after the jump, and contact your dealer for an inspection and fix if necessary.

[Source: Toyota]