Mercruiser Alpha1 Gen 2 Power Trim Lines on 2040-parts.com

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz SL

The new high-tech, low weight Mercedes SL roadster receives its official global unveil next week in Detroit but Car Design News got an early peek of the final production car and had a chat with its designers at Mercedes' US advanced design studio in Carlsbad, California back in November. "We want to get back to clean, long-lasting design," director of Mercedes global advanced design and SL project leader, Steffen Kohl told CDN at the exclusive preview of the sixth-generation model. "So the new SL is long, sleek and still full of tension in the feature lines but less wedgy." In a short presentation Kohl felt all SLs became successfully iconic in their times because they followed two key rules – ‘sensuality' and ‘cleanness' – but alluded that the first rule may have been lost in more recent eras.

New Hyundai Sant Fe Super Bowl adverts the most effective

It’s been revealed that Hyundai got the most bang for its Buck with Super Bowl adverts for the new Santa Fe increasing Hyundai site traffic by 1000%. So, with figures like that and a huge captive audience, it’s no wonder car makers like to strut their latest products in front of the Super Bowl audience with the hope of a big return in sales. Umpteen car makers ran TV adverts in the 2013 Super Bowl, but it looks like Hyundai has come out very much on top, with Edmunds reporting a traffic increase of 738% in traffic for the new Hyundai  Santa Fe after Hyundai ran its adverts and the US Autotrader site a massive 1000% increase.

BMW expands Mini lineup with two-seat coupe, roadster models

Mini is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its original model by confirming plans for a new compact performance-oriented coupe. The two-seater, revealed 50 years to the day after the premiere of the first Mini back in 1959, will make its public debut at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show. At the show, the BMW-owned carmaker also will unveil a similarly styled two-seat roadster, which sources say will head into production as part of a strategy aimed at further raising the appeal of the wildly popular and iconic small car.