Building a car from a kit is nothing new. Open any modern auto magazine and you’ll find plenty of that crap in the classifieds. But when one man goes above and beyond to turn a 2001 Mercury Cougar into a fully-functional, stylish Audi R8, well, that’s magic.

While there’s just some things that can’t be copied, overall this car looks just like a damn R8. Since the actual Audi R8 is a $100,000+ car, most people won’t have one and thus won’t be able to tell the difference between this Cougar and the real thing. There’s no Audi power behind it but hey, it’ll still get you laid. Creator Alberto Gavach from Spain is no dummy. He claims he spent about $50,000 building it. Not too shabby. After the jump, a photo with the real R8 next to the fake one.
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Easy Glider X6 is a four-year-old personal transportation device that’s like the demon love child of a Segway and a tricycle. stand on a two-wheeled platform and steer the glider using handlebars connected to an electrically powered single wheel. Easy Glider’s design allows riders to make sharp turns without losing balance. Last month, a tour company called Easy Gadir started renting the bikes in the Spanish beach towns of Malaga and Cadiz.

During my time in Seville I used my Eurail pass to take a quick train trip to Cadiz where I saw the Easy Glider in action. Read more to see exclusive photos and video of the Easy Glider doing it’s thing in Cadiz.

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Free wi-fi is surprisingly hard to come by across in Europe, so I wasn’t able to post much during my recent trip across the pond. I’ve made it back home safe and sound now so this weekend and next I’ll be posting more of what I saw on my travels. One place I checked out was Seville, an ancient city in Southern Spain that’s always been an important center for arts and culture.

In addition to being the birthplace of 17th century painter Diego Velazquez and flamenco dancing, Seville is the the setting for several operas, a novel by famed author Miguel Cervantes, and the tale of legendary lover Don Juan. Today Seville is carrying on it’s artistic tradition by being home to some of the coolest street art that I saw during my European journey.

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While enjoying my European adventure I saw the renowned Jedi Master Yoda in Madrid’s historic Plaza Mayor. Apparently, Yoda’s fallen on hard times since filming the Star Wars movies and now he’s resorted to begging for money from tourists in Spain.

It was cool seeing my favorite sci-fi hero in the flesh, but I’d rather have a chance to get up close and personal with a hottie like Princess Leia or Queen Amidala. I hear Natalie Portman’s single again, so maybe I can make that happen. I’ll have my people get in touch with her people. As Yoda himself once said “there is no try there is only do.”

It’s funny how the Simpsons seem to pop up everywhere. Especially Homer. From USB-powered lights to wall clocks to iPods, you just can’t seem to escape the charm of America’s favorite yellow family. Even across the world, in Aviles, Spain, Homer is turning up in odd places. A shopkeeper found him on the back of a one Euro coin instead of the usual King Juan Carlos. Odd? Oh yes.

It certainly looks like Homer, but it can’t be on the back of a Euro. He’s busy drinking a cold Duff down at Moe’s.

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In response to rising cellphone charges, citizens in Madrid, Spain has gone on a no-cellphone campaign last week. It is really hard to imagine if you are from places where public phone booths are getting demolished to build new wireless towers. A lot of people in Madrid supported the campaign, but there were people spotted for using the phonebook off cellphones when dialing in a phonebooth. We simply can’t live without cellphones any more, which is something that we never expected 5 years ago. Wait till we can’t live without 3G. –Sam Chan

Article [FujiSankei]