Sunpro Voltmeter Gauge Kit Cp7985 on 2040-parts.com

Tokyo motor shows: past, present and future

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 20 August 2009 09:30 As bets in this topsy-turvy, unpredictable industry go, it’s a banker: of all the motor shows on the global calendar, the Tokyo exhibit is always the barmiest. Although the Chinese shows are rising in importance – and amusement value –  there’s something peculiarly bonkers about the biannual Japanese bash held in downtown Tokyo. So strange is the exhibition at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba City to westerners, that you don’t bat an eyelid at talking cars, vehicles with feelings, or cars designed for dogs.

Chevrolet Volt uses parts made from oil-collecting booms

General Motors is transforming about 100 miles of boom material used to soak up oil in the Gulf of Mexico into auto parts for the Chevrolet Volt. The oil-soaked plastic material collected off the Alabama and Louisiana coasts will keep more than 100,000 pounds of waste from the nation's landfills. The project is expected to make enough plastic to supply the first-year production of Volts with plastic parts for under the hood.

VW Beetle R Concept revealed

VW Beetle R Concept arrives at Frankfurt We did speculate back in June that Volkswagen were planning on giving the new VW Beetle some butch credentials by endowing it with a new performance range-topper – the VW Beetle R. And today at Frankfurt the new hot Beetle takes a bow. VW are dubbing the Beetle R Concept, but it’s clear that they want the new Beetle to be perceived as more appealing to men as well as women; to those who enjoy the drive as well as to those who buy a car to make a style declaration.