1969 Gto Valance Panel Grilles,pair on 2040-parts.com

CDR Trend Insight – Downsizing the ‘Allroad’ Aesthetic

The ‘Allroad' aesthetic is trickling down to the A-segment. The look is so-called because it was led by Audi's range of Allroad products, which raise the ride height, add lower body cladding and subtly change detailing of the mainstream estate car products. Volvo's XC and Skoda's Scout models do similar things, but until now, we've not seen this aesthetic approach applied to the smallest segment of cars.

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete Much of the ‘clunkiness’ in cars – stuff like wind-up windows and a cranking handle – have been made obsolete in cars as technology arrived to make things work better, but one thing that remains on modern cars from the dawn of the motoring age is the windscreen wiper. Invented by Mary Anderson in 1903 after she realised drivers of the first motor cars were having to lean out of the window in rainy conditions to see where they were going, it became a standard fitting on all cars within a few years. Windscreen wipers have certainly improved over the years as technology has developed, but they’re still basically a strip of rubber moving across the windscreen to clear rain.

New techniques cut cost of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, once so costly that it was the preferred material only for fighter planes and supercars, is catching the attention of weight-conscious automakers. Carbon fiber's cost is falling dramatically, thanks to production advances that let suppliers speed the material's finicky, and costly, curing process. One technological breakthrough that makes carbon-fiber auto parts more affordable may come from a process used to make carbon-fiber golf clubs.