The Hamilton portrait, which was paid for by McLaren’s fuel partner ExxonMobil, is far from being the only such piece in Macaluso’s extensive portfolio. While most of his motor oil paintings are abstractions, there are two portraits of another man of African ancestry who has gone where no man of his lineage has gone before: President Barack Obama.

Macaluso is clearly a fan of dead dinosaurs, as evidenced by this quote from the ExxonMobil press release:

Painting with the Mobil 1 used motor oil offered a wide range of tones and was obviously a very refined product from its texture. It was extremely smooth and very particle-rich, with all the engine dirt in perpetual suspension, making for a great painting medium.

If he ever decides to branch off into rock music, “Engine Dirt in Perpetual Suspension” would be one hell of a band name.

The depictee himself was rather pleased, saying he was “very impressed with the oil painting.”

The painting will have its first public outing at a VIP event at the British Grand Prix, where Hamilton will arrive as the defending champion. Although given the pace of his McLaren this season, he will need nothing short of divine intervention to retain that distinction at the very last Grand Prix race held at Silverstone.

Where another Brit will arrive as the clear favorite—Brawn GP driver Jenson Button.

Image Credit: David Macaluso, ExxonMobil

Since it's just short-seller covering positions, and sales are only up 3.9% (although that's not too shabby in these times), we're expecting the price to come back down to earth shortly.

But, for the moment VW shares, with a free float estimated to be as low as 5% with Porsche and the Lower State of Saxony holding much of the company, were at its high of Tuesday worth 295 billion euros, or $367 billion. Exxon Mobil closed Monday with a market capitalization of $343 billion. Quick, Congress, get to the floor and pass another tax break for "Big Oil!" We'll teach the Germans nobody pushes our oil companies around. [Marketwatch]

Photo Credit: Getty Images

I want to build one of these stations with different coloured cords and different prices according to which cord you get..

For instance, the turbo blue cord, or high octane electrons, would be suitable for your plugin WRX or GNX..

the grey cord, low energy electrons, suitable for your plug in camry/accord..

The green cord, would cost extra, as it's comprised of free-range electrons travelling through recycled copper.

The pussymagnet yellow cord would be suitable for your electric porsche or ferrari..

And.. we can't forget about the Nordst Valhalla power cable for the audiophile's car... the most expensive of electrons for your vehicle enables the ultimate of audio reproduction capabilities and allows your stereo to reach it's highest of potential. acoustically harmonizing maple blocks to park your car on are extra, but available upon request.

GM has been greenwashing boosting ad spending for its more fuel-efficient models since the middle of last year. But Katherine Benoit, GM corporate marketing director, claimed that although the company may have been cheating with E85, they swear they'd stopped dating, citing as proof the suspension of ads for its Flex-Fuel models — remember Live Green, Go Yellow? — partly because the fuel isn't widely available, and partly because recent reports are blaming corn-based ethanol for elements of a burgeoning global food crisis. And frankly, GM just doesn't need that kind of stress right now.

Unconfirmed reports state that a consortium of hydrogen fuel cell labs always thought GM was hot, but that they'll wait a few months to see if GM is really through with Big Oil before making a move. They don't want to end up getting the shaft like Electric did back in the '90s. [Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

Exxon makes $10.5B, a near-record quarter [CNNMoney.com]

Related:
End of Summer Drops Gas Prices [internal]