In addition to the 2010 Volkswagen Golf GTI that we caught yesterday in the California Desert, on our way home our path crossed with the oft-reported, next-gen Mercedes-Benz gull wing super car. We're happy to share this series of high-resolution photos with you. While this test mule is under some unique, hard-sided camouflage, it was obvious what we were looking at: the successor to the current Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR. But this one will be an in-house affair with AMG being the main development partner. Even with the ugly camouflage, this is one car that looks like it's going 200 MPH standing still.

Another fruitful day in the California desert. We're here putting miles on the Nissan Nismo 350Z (more about that later) and we hit pay dirt, encountering what at first appeared to be the next-gen R32 version of the upcoming Volkswagen Golf Mark VI. But based on input from members of vwvortex.com and golfmk6.com we have been able to determine with a great deal of certainty that what we shot was the 211-horsepower turbocharged GTI version. As soon as we entered our favorite hunting ground we caught this subject heading in the opposite direction and by the time we could hang a U-turn and catch up, the VW engineers and chase drivers had the car, whatever it might be, completely covered.

AutomotiveTraveler is making its weekly rounds in California desert, hunting down vehicles as they undergo extreme hot weather testing in one of the world's most punishing environments. This time we caught a caravan of Mercedes engineers on their lunchbreak, and of all the fine dining establishments available in the region, our friends from Stuttgart chose to dine at Mickey D's. Next time, try Tokyo House Japanese Restaurant down the street; from our our past visits to the California high desert we can tell you that the lunch specials are the best in town.

While this is not a spy shot in the traditional sense, just after bagging the E-Class of corporate cousin Mercedes-Benz, we encountered something really unusual: a Freightliner commercial truck undergoing extreme hot weather testing in the California desert. What made this truck special is that it is one of Freightliner's new M2e Class 6 diesel-electric hybrids. And instead of trying to duck the 200 mm lens of my Nikon D200, the test engineers pulled off to the side of the road and asked me if they could better position the truck for the best possible shot. No G-Class trying to block my shot--as if it could--as the Freightliner looked to be at least 12 feet tall.