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BMW's Quandt family in hot water over Merkel campaign contributions

The mysterious and elusive Quandt family is in hot water again, nearly two years after its Nazi connections during World War II were exposed. The German family's patriarch, Herbert Quandt, nearly single-handedly saved BMW from being bought out by Daimler-Benz in 1959. Now, three living family members own nearly half of the German brand, and stand accused of buying votes with donations to the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mere days ahead of a European Union vote that would cap vehicle emissions.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family, totaling 690,000 euros ($935,000), on October 9. The CDU, for what it's worth, claim the donations weren't related to any political decisions and that the family have been donors for years. A Quandt family spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the family had been waiting for Germany's September 22 elections to pass before making a large contribution to the CDU.

All the crazy stuff we saw at McCall's Motorworks Revival

Every year, Gordon McCall puts on a lavish event packed with rare cars and planes (and the type of people that can afford rare cars and planes). And every year, more ridiculous stuff shows up. It's the good kind of machine overload. It's likely the only place in the world where you'll see a line of BMW 3.0s next to some Paganis next to a Porsche 911 by Singer Design next to a Ferrari salt racer next to a custom Olds Riviera next to the latest from Koenigsegg next to he coolest stuff Shelby ever made next to a hangar filled with McLarens, including a few P1 GTRs. And then all of that is surrounded by private jets, fighters, and planes that could have flown in directly from WWII. In a word, it's insane. Walk through the gallery above to get a taste for what was there this year for the event's 25th anniversary. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 McCall's Motorworks Revival View 29 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / Autoblog Motorsports Misc. Auto Shows BMW Ferrari McLaren Porsche Koenigsegg

Six 'shut up and take my money' cars

Any time you see this iconic moment in pop culture - Shut up and take my money! - posted in response to a new car reveal, rumor for an upcoming model or even lip-service to a vehicle that should exist, you can bet there's some intrinsic good in the idea. Though depending on the person offering up the cash, that good could take the form of extraordinary form, functionality, weight savings, power, handling, etc. You get the idea.
In fact, when I first proposed this list, I reached out to the Autoblog staff to help me brainstorm. Here are some of the ideas they offered up that I ultimately didn't use: Jaguar XE Coupe, Pagani Huayra Roadster, Mercedes-Benz S-Class "parade car" (cabriolet), Morgan 3-Wheeler with Ducati V-twin, Ford Transit Connectamino (pickup), Mercedes CLA63 AMG, Ford Fusion 5.0, BMW i8 Spyder, Lexus RC-F Shooting Brake, Volvo XC90 Polestar. Oh, and things we collectively wanted to stick Dodge's Hellcat in were almost as numerous as models that Fiat Chrysler Automotive currently makes (though none quite so compelling as the Grand Cherokee you see above.)
Ultimately though, while I used a couple of ideas from my colleagues, the list of cars I'd shell out for unquestionably is very personal. Though it isn't complete, what follows is a selection of cars whose very existence would prompt me - or the trust-fund-baby versions of me - to utter without hesitation: "Shut up and take my money."