The Fiesta Movement has provided its share of entertaining (and not-so-entertaining) experiences for its 100 “agents” and its many followers so far – but we found this particular gem of a video to be worth passing along.

On October 16th if you were anywhere near Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California you likely heard, smelled, and saw the results of the Formula Drift Professional Drifting Championship taking place. I for one knew I was close as soon as I got onto the 605 freeway and saw the unmistakable plumes of tire smoke could be seen for miles.

Just prior to leaving for Frankfurt for the Frankfurt Motor Show, Leftlane had an opportunity to discuss the auto industry in general, and Lamborghini in particular, with company President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann in Miami.

Hunter S. Thompson would be proud. Fear and loathing in the wilds of the American Southwest turned into his newest namesake: Hunter, our new canine spy team member, who has already helped us scout out some of the desert’s oddities.

The time has come to turn a few more pages in the Fiesta Notebook series as I have now reached nearly 7,500 trouble-free miles in my Ford Fiesta. I’ve grown quite fond of this premium sub-compact in the various duties it has served- ranging from typical daily driving, to tearing up the autocross, to hauling around a hatch full of auto detailing gear for my detailing business.

As a woman and a mother, I’m entitled to get emotional at times. No funny stories from the desert about brothels today. No pictures of curiously camouflaged cars or engineers mooning me. Today, I feel I’m entitled to occasionally steer away from my off-the-wall day-to-day experiences and get in-touch with my heart and soul.

The only thing more noticeable at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium than the sound of tires being shredded to bits or the smell of red hot burning brakes a few weeks ago was the silly grin I had beaming from ear to ear in anticipation of running at my first ever autocross event.

Leftlane had the opportunity to catch up with Infiniti Design Director Shiro Nakamura recently at the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California, where he helped unveil the 2011 Infiniti M sedan before serving as an honorary judge at the world’s most prestigious collector car event.

Over 230 motorcars and motorcycles splayed themselves across the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links for the 59th running of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California. Located in the Monterey peninsula between Monterey and Carmel by the Sea, eight miles from Mazda Laguna Seca raceway, the famed event is the epicenter of the automotive world every year in the middle of August.

Though we at Leftlane have done our best to capture the thrill of espionage that is automotive spy photographer Brenda Priddy’s life, we were thrilled to see ABC News’ take on the automakers’ biggest paparazzi enemy in the desert.

With dire times forcing cuts across the industry, Ford Motor Company took a particularly big step to consolidate its once expansive California operations: It sold its former Premier Automotive Group facility in Irvine to Taco Bell.

It’s a beautiful place, this state of Maine. The prospect of flying into Beantown for a quick week of rest and relaxation up north in not-quite “down east” Maine left us totally in the dark about what to expect when we arrived. The one constant for us would be driving in Audi’s new, 50-state-legal Q7 TDI.

When Infiniti loaned us a brand new EX35, they never expected us to “break it in” quite the way we did. Besides putting on over 3,000 dusty miles, driving it day after day across four states in triple-digit temperatures, all the while looking for secret test cars – we ultimately wound up in some pretty strange situations.

Here at Leftlane, we spend a lot of time focusing on new cars. But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a good classic car show — especially when its aim is to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. Which leads us to the Fleetwood Country Cruize In, an annual event held a couple hours north of the U.S.-Canadian border.

As one of Ford’s “Fiesta Agents,” I recently had the opportunity to speak in length to Ford’s Small Car Brand Manager, Sam De La Garza, to address several questions that have come up on Leftlane’s comments section and on various enthusiast forums. It was time to address them head-on and get the answers (or as close as he could give) we have been waiting for.

James Bond would be appalled. This is definitely not the way Jim Dunne worked. And Infiniti – well, they might have regrets about loaning me a brand new EX35 with just 500 miles on it for an extended spy mission, er, road trip, this summer. But it’s too late now, Infiniti, as I have no cell coverage out where I am, so I’ll see you folks later – assuming we’re still on speaking terms.

Drive between two of the world’s best-known playgrounds of the rich and famous, Lake Como, Italy, and St. Moritz, Switzerland, and you will undoubtedly come across countless BMW 5-Series sedans. Ubiquitous icons of the upper and upper-middle classes, these four-doors boast a history of sophistication unknown to almost all of their owners.

When I introduced you to the Ford Fiesta I’m driving as part of the automaker’s Fiesta Movement, I teased you with tidbits on the car that Ford hopes will put Americans in a premium small car. This time, let’s climb into the driver’s and passenger’s seats for an in-depth look at the place where I spend the most time.

It pays to be able to read lips. Otherwise you would have a tough time knowing what bystanders were uttering from the street corners as we passed in a fire engine red and carbon fiber-striped Audi R8. It seems there is a lot of blessed manure or something like that out there as that was the single most uttered phrase we “read” from the lips of those we passed on our way around Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

Just two weeks away from receiving my diploma from San Diego State University, I find myself with the keyless fob to start my almost one-of-a-kind 2009 Euro-spec Ford Fiesta five-door hatchback. It’s an enviable position, I realize, because I was selected as one of the 100 “socially vibrant millenials” to participate in the “Fiesta Movement” designed to promote this new small car in America.