1959 Oldsmobile 98 Ninety Eight Clock on 2040-parts.com

Why we love Maximum Bob: A column by Dutch Mandel

In announcing that he will leave General Motors at the end of this year, product czar Bob Lutz bows out gracefully and elegantly and does it in the style that forged his legend. It's also a move made none too soon and if not hastened by Beltway functionaries, then punctuated by it. But make no mistake: Bob Lutz is not running from the fight engulfing Detroit and the rest of the automaking world.

GM's Ed Whitacre meets the press in Web chat

General Motors' new front man, Ed Whitacre, remains a bit of an elusive figure in the car world. But at the very least, the former telecom honcho who's now the leader of the nation's largest automaker does like cars. “Oh yes,” he answered in response to that question during a Web chat on Tuesday, one of his first interactions with the media so far in his tenure at the helm of GM.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante revealed

Aston Martin has unveiled the Vanquish Volante -- a new luxury sports car bringing open-top motoring to the super GT class. Alongside the Vanquish coupe the new convertible tops the British sports car maker's lineup and has all the coupe's features. There's the coupe's 6.0-liter V12 engine and thus the same performance figures, including a top speed of 183 mph.