Early Chevy Quadrajet 4 Barrel Carburetor on 2040-parts.com

MIT researchers rethink electric-car batteries

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say a new battery design for electric vehicles could be a lightweight and inexpensive alternative. The goal for the team's three-year project, launched in September 2010, is to have a functioning prototype ready to be engineered as a replacement for existing electric-car batteries. At this point in the project, the prototype uses a “semi-solid flow” to separate the two functions of a battery--storing energy and discharging it when needed--into separate physical structures.

Concept Car of the Week: Pininfarina CNR-PF (1978)

In the 1970s alarm bells were ringing in the energy sector as a series of energy crises and rising fuel prices spiralled. The car industry was forced to produce a new generation of more efficient cars and designers were putting new models through wind tunnels to optimize their aerodynamic performance to reduce aerodynamic drag. Some pushed the limits further than others and none more so than Pininfarina, which designed a car that slipped through the air twice as efficiently than any other.

Hamann introduces Mission body kit for BMW M5

Hamann Motorsport isn't known for being subtle. When it isn't pumping up G-Wagens and Porsches, it's tie-dying a McLaren MP4-12C. Its newest package starts with the already aggressive-looking BMW M5, then slices up the bodywork in typical Hamann fashion.