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Driven: BMW i8

When BMW unveiled the Vision EfficientDynamics concept at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, we wrote: "for our money, it's the first time a major carmaker has really attempted to communicate ‘green' technology in an aesthetic sense." Fast-forward five years and we've swapped the show halls of the IAA for a beauty spot on the north-west coast of Scotland. And, while the car's name has changed to i8, our sentiment towards this genre- and era-defining car remains. Admittedly the production car's design execution hasn't received the universal praise of its concept forebears, but, on a remote outpost of the British Isles, a Protonic Blue i8 couldn't look more exotic.

USA, UK & Germany will be top markets for the new BMW i8. You don’t say?

The BMW i8 (Pictured) will sell best in US, UK & Germany In a case of stating the obvious in a bid to keep interest in the BMW i8 high ahead of its debut at Frankfurt next month, Hendrik Wenders – the i8 product manager – has declared the biggest market for the BMW i8 will be the USA. As America is already BMW’s biggest market place, that’s not entirely a shock, and nor is the news that the UK and Germany will be the biggest markets in Europe. After all, they’re the only major economies in Europe without huge falling markets for cars.

VIDEO: Classic-car driver training encourages teens to pilot vintage iron

Thirty lucky kids learned to drive classic cars at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., on Friday in celebration of Collector Car Appreciation Day. Hagerty Insurance partnered with local classic-car owners for the inaugural event, which aimed to foster an interest in vintage cars among young drivers and to introduce them to manual transmissions. Hagerty said today's teens rarely have access to manuals, since about 90 percent of new cars have automatic transmissions.