2004 Dodge Durango Infinity Amplifier 56043163 Af on 2040-parts.com

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

Fuel Injection Pioneer Stuart Hilborn 1917-2013

Stuart Hilborn, the dry lakes hot rodder whose racing fuel injection systems powered almost the entire field at Indianapolis some years, died Monday at the age of 96. Hilborn first went to the dry lakes in 1938 and was amazed to see engine builders and racers who hadn't gone to college producing twice the horsepower of a stock setup. “I was very impressed that they had doubled the horsepower of the cars as they came out of Detroit with virtually no money at all, just work,” Hilborn told the American Hot Rod Foundation.

Historic Brough Superior hits the auction block

Motorcycle pioneer and racer George Brough's 1925 prototype Brough Superior SS 100 Alpine Grand Sport has a shot at breaking the world record for motorcycles at auction on Dec. 15. The iconic piece from the Michael FitzSimons collection could fetch $600,000 to $700,000 at the New York auction house Phillips de Pury & Co.