1955-56 Ford Cluster Gear 8 Cylinder Nu259-8b C.s. on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: Packards -- Ask the man who knows way too much about one

-- For some light Wednesday reading, here's more information than you ever wanted to know about Packard. It includes the horrible neoclassics that plagued the 1970s, and the 1995 revival of the Packard name that attempted to stick a shortened rendition of the famous Packard grille in front of a 440-hp V12, all wrapped in a shape that looked like a melted Twix, as shown above. Our august associate editor Graham Kozak owns a Packard, so he could have filled us in on the details.

Ford Vertrek concept

Ford used the 2011 Detroit auto show to unveil its Vertrek concept. The compact SUV is billed as potentially leading the industry in both design and fuel efficiency. The Vertrek is the latest evolution of the Kinetic design language that debuted on the Iosis concept, which subsequently evolved into the current generation Mondeo.

Diddy stars in new Fiat 500L spot

The dream of the '90s is apparently alive at Fiat. Not Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's crust punx, granola and symmetrical all-wheel drive u/dystopia, but the other side of the era; the flashy party-people late end of the decade that brought Sean Combs to global prominence. In Italian marque's new ad, the rapping, acting, designing businessman appears as the Mr.