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Topiary Joe sculpts the ultimate in green cars

Efficient cars are all the rage these days, but Joe Kyte has made a business of crafting some of the coolest green cars around – literally. Kyte is better known by his nickname Topiary Joe, and in addition to being a talented artist, he is also a real gearhead. Kyte has been creating topiaries for the last 20 years. It began when he was marketing greenhouse products to Walt Disney World and saw their plant sculptures. He realized that he could do that and since then, has done around 3,400 pieces. His most intriguing creations are the rolling sculptures that move and turn. Prices for those start at about $18,000 and can be as high as $30,000. While, the wheels are machine-bent, Kyte said all the other parts are done with a table vice and a Lincoln Electric arc welder. Topiary Joe is taking the Porsche (pictured above) to Palm Beach later this year to sell or says he may donate it to Porsche North America. If you really want it, the sculpture is currently on Craigslist for sale for $24,000. Topiary Joe has also had a life-long love of cars. "I was driving my first MG Midget before I was 14," he told Autoblog. He grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, where the Manhattan Project was partially developed. He says the town was full of recent college grads driving Mercedes, and he caught the bug. His automotive mentor was a nuclear physicist who taught him to repair and restore the Mercs. Kyte has completed commissions for Sandals Resort, Dreamworks, Absolut, and many more. Among his favorite creations is the Ferrari that he created at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that is now exhibited at the airport each year before the race. Check out his website for a wider look at his work.

Ferrari rated world's most powerful brand ahead of Apple

Ferrari has nabbed the honor of becoming the world's most powerful brand from Apple. According to Brand Finance, the Italian automaker earned the highest rating among all brands on the Global 500 list despite being worth considerably less than its competition. But the ranking takes into account more than just a company's bottom line. Brand Finance also looks at margins, average revenue per customer and less tangible notions like brand affection and loyalty.
There's no disputing those latter two categories, and this year saw Ferrari enjoy the best financial results in the automaker's history. In 2012, the company's revenue jumped by eight percent to 2.43 billion euro thanks in part to a 4.5 percent increase in deliveries worldwide.
Meanwhile, Apple squeaked out ahead of Samsung to earn the top spot as the most valuable brand at $400 billion. You can check out the Brand Finance press release below for more information.

A fleet of classic Ferraris were left to rot in a field

A field full of abandoned, old Ferraris is not a common sight. But here are photos of a bunch of them sitting out in the elements. Silodrome originally found and published a story about these lonely looking Ferraris. According to the post, there's a Testarossa, a 308 Quattrovalvole, at least two 328s, at least three 348s and an unestablished number of Mondials. All of them reportedly belonged to one collector, and the story behind why they ended up in the field is rather sad. The owner (name unknown) was an attorney who acquired 13 Ferraris over the course of his successful career. Around 2011 or 2012 he was diagnosed with a serious illness, and he paid to have the cars put into a friend's secure warehouse. Unfortunately, he ended up missing some payments as his condition worsened, and the cars were removed from the warehouse. Their new storage spot? The field you see photographed here. Back payments were eventually made to the warehouse, but the Ferraris were never moved inside. Apparently, the Ferraris would remain in the field for nearly a decade until the family was able to take possession of them. No explanation was provided as to why they were unable to grab them sooner, but the article alludes to "legal proceedings" holding them up. Eleven Ferraris were found in the field, but records (titles, invoices) show that there should have been 13. Additionally, two Rolls-Royces are also unaccounted for. The family reportedly made a deal to sell nine of the Ferraris to a dealer, so they could be restored and sold to new owners. Interior photos of these Ferraris are a bit of a shock. Time sitting in a field hasn't served them well, but at least some folks are going to give them the care a classic Ferrari deserves now. You can check out the rest of the images on Silodrome's article.