84 Yamaha Venture Xvz 1200 Final Drive Gear & Housing R12 on 2040-parts.com

Imagining the Future: The Southern California Automotive Design Studio

Southern California is home to more automotive design studios than anywhere else in the world, and to commemorate that relationship and celebrate Art Center College of Design's 60th Anniversary, the Petersen Automotive Museum is putting on a new permanent exhibition among its rolling time capsules and automotive memorabilia from Hollywood. The new design exhibition showcases the history of the local design community and its contribution to the world. Located in the ‘Streetscape' section of the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Car Design Studio is at the modern end of a realistic walk-through diorama of California's history as it relates to the automobile.

Problems with your McLaren MP4-12C? Have a ‘McLaren: The Wins’ coffee table book

Ron Dennis apologises to McLaren MP4-12C owners A couple of weeks ago we reported that McLaren was having some teething problems with their new MP4-12C but weren’t, despite reports to the contrary, halting production. The problems seemed to be mainly software related, with issues including warning lights flashing on and battery drainage issues, which seemed to be because the MP4-12C’s electronics didn’t turn off when the car was halted. But it seemed McLaren were working on the issues with the same sort of zeal we’ve come to recognise from their F1 programme, no doubt spurred on by the wrath of Ron Dennis.

Smaller Mercedes SLS confirmed, and with front-mounted V8 too

Baby Mercedes SLS AMG - or at least how it could have looked if mid-engined We’ve believed for some time that Mercedes were planning a smaller version of the SLS, but so far there’s been no official word. But that’s now changed, with AMG’s Christoph Jung telling AutoExpress that Mercedes and AMG are currently working on a smaller SLS, to go head-to-head with cars like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8. Interestingly, we’d thought that Mercedes would go the route of a mid-engined two-seater for the baby SLS, and that it would probably get a turbo V6. But it would appear not.