355 Racecar Engine on 2040-parts.com

New COPO Camaro concept hits the drag strip

This Friday video goodness features a white 2012 COPO Camaro Stock Eliminator Concept on the drag strip. As Autoweek contributor Patrick Paternie explained during the SEMA show, the new COPO (Central Office Production Order) nameplate pays homage to the rare high-powered 1969 Camaros created through a loophole in the special-order program. This enabled dealers to specify a 427 engine--COPO 9560, the aluminum ZL1, or COPO 9561, the Corvette-based L72 iron block--despite the Camaro technically being limited to the 396-cubic-inch powerplant.

McLaren X-1 - rebodied MP4-12C supercar (2012)

Sometimes, the best just isn’t good enough. That’s why a wealthy anonymous car collector – garage already full of McLaren F1, McLaren Mercedes SLR and MP4-12C, and goodness knows how many fabulous non-McLarens – thought he’d like to produce his very own one-off supercar. The new McLaren X-1, which makes its debut at The Quail, part of the Pebble Beach weekend, is the result.

Electric cars can become electricity banks

Ever try to store electricity? It won't stay in a bottle, and you can't keep it in your sock drawer. So when you have a lot of it--say, when it's windy and your wind turbines are really spinning, or when it's sunny and your gallium arsenide photovoltaics are lighting up, or at night when the utility's generators can run unhindered--you have to store it somewhere.