Sonata 2007 Clock 2349954 on 2040-parts.com

New Mercedes A45 AMG has 105 years of 4WD on its side

With the new Mercedes A45 AMG on the horizon – complete with 4WD – Mercedes chart the history of all wheel drive on their vehicles. We tend to think of 4WD road cars as a modern innovation, and certainly very few 4WD road cars hit the road in a mainstream way much before the 1980s (the Jensen FF was hardly mainstream before someone points out that was in the 1960s). But the history of 4WD goes back, certainly in the case of Mercedes, a surprising 105 years when Daimler built the Dernburg-Wagen, a 4WD vehicle that not only got all-wheel drive but all wheel steering too.

BMW's new 5-series next for hybrid power

The new BMW 5-series being launched this winter is likely to be the next BMW to receive the ActiveHybrid system pioneered on the petrol-electric 7-series and X6 models. BMW engineers admit they can't rely on sales of the pricey hybrid 7-series and X6 to justify the development costs, even though these range-topping halo hybrids were jointly developed with Daimler and GM. Senior sources have indicated that the new 2010 5-series will be the next BMW to get an ActiveHybrid model.

Exhibition: BMW Art Drive London

Entering the seventh floor of a London car park to find three spaces occupied by BMWs is an inconsequential occurrence given the proliferation of Bavarian-born cars in the UK Capital. Except, that is, when the three in question have been touched by the hands (and brushes) of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschernberg. As part of the London 2012 Festival and in partnership with the ICA, BMW has taken over a grimy multi-storey in London's hipster Shoreditch district, filling it with 16 works from its iconic, priceless Art Car collection.