Happy NewYear 2012

We at Ilham Editorial Services would like to wish all readers of Sam Auto Scoop (SAS) a very happy  and prosperous New Year and we would also like to wish that the global automotive industry speedy recovery from the tsunami and terrible flooding in Thailand.

We are working on several exciting plans for SAS in order to give readers a more satisfying experience and the latest news as soon as it happens.

Please keep coming back to find out what new things you can expect from SAS in 2012

VIDEO: Conclusive proof that baggy pants are dangerous to your health

Software designer's Iswara is the latest Proton VIP Extreme Makeover candidate

That's RM50K worth of restoration work your car will be getting

It is a good year to be an owner of a Proton with a good story, to date two lucky owners have had their car rebuilt from the ground up by the talented boys at the carmaker's R3 division and now it is the turn of software engineer Norzamzarini Mohd Bajuri to hand over his car for an extreme makeover.

We spoke to Tengku Djan Ley, Malaysia's Drift King and head of engineering at R3 about the level of work that goes into these restorations and he said, it would be cheaper to get a new car than to restore.

This is very true and most classic car owners know that restoration is very time consuming and expensive and typically run a bill that would make a brand new Proton Inspira cheap.

Djan said that after the first restoration a customer actually called up to find out how much it would cost for R3 to do a full restoration and after tallying up parts, labour and everything else it was determined that they would have to charge around RM50,000 for the work.

LEAKED: 2013 Kia Forte sketches escapes to the wild

The Kia Forte turned the fortunes of the Korean carmaker, it gave buyers new confidence in the reinvigorated brand and now it is time for a follow-up act and KiaWorld.net has leaked this sketch which they claim is the replacement of the current model.

It is a good looking car that clearly develops on the current design theme, we cannot wait to see more of the car.

JJ Lehto to serve time for speedboat accident

Former F1 driver and twice Le Mans winner, JJ Lehto will find himself behind bars if his appeal against a conviction for a speedboat accident that caused the death of one of his friend isn't overturned.

A court in Finland found him guilty of driving the speedboat under intoxication when it struck a bridge support at high speed in a canal.

Lehto's defense is simple, he wasn't driving the boat the time of the accident but the court inclined to disagree with his version of events and has convicted him to two years and four months jail time.

JJ Lehto started his F1 career with the shortlived Onyx team before moving on to Sauber and Finally as Michael Schumacher's partner in Benetton in 1994.

He injured his neck in a testing accident before the start of the season and had to sit it out until the San Marino grand Prix, the one where Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna was killed.

Ratzenberger was his close friend and they had dinner the night before the accident and this affected Lehto's comeback state of mind.

Things got worse  for him during the weekend as Lehto's Benetton stalled at the start and was plowed by Pedro Lamy's Lotus.

He later made a name for himself in GT racing, winning the 1995 Le Mans in the Team Kokusai Kaihatsu McLaren F1with Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya.

He won the event again in 2005 in the the Team ADT Audi R8.

VIDEO: What happens when you pour a very large bucket of water on your car?

VIDEO: Lada Niva across England, entirely offroad

I didn't think it possible for me to want a Lana Niva but this Fifth Gear video has made me want one, I mean really want one.

Here is a tough, solid as nails 4x4 crossing England from west to east, entirely off-road.

Of course the Niva was on sale in Malaysia for a brief moment in the late 1980s and early 1990s but it didn't catch on, pity.

Video after the jump