New Ritchie B-51w Explorer Compass (white) on 2040-parts.com

Art Center Car Classic features the world's great automobiles

It seems like we say this every year, but this year it's truly fitting: this was the best Art Center Car Classic ever. Consider that the show covered both ends of the Corvette spectrum, from Peter Brock and the rise of the original “Mitchell Corvette” -- which was right there parked on the grass -- to General Motors designer Pete Thomas and the new C7 parked not far away, with the Mako Shark and the '63 split-window Sting Ray lined up between. A couple car lengths from that was the debut of the finally finished Peter Mullin Bugatti Type 64, a spectacular re-imagining of Jean Bugatti's unfinished final car done by Art Center students and Transportation Design chair Stewart Reed.

General Motors names Ewanick global chief marketing officer

General Motors, looking to accelerate its push into major markets worldwide, tapped U.S. marketing chief Joel Ewanick to become global chief marketing officer--a new post. "As we continue our rapid growth in major global markets, it is important that we take a more customer-focused view of our overall marketing strategy," GM CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement today.

Ford begins building 1.0 Ecoboost, a microsized 3cyl

Ford chief exec Alan Mulally was in Essex today to launch the first 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine, which was developed by powertrain engineers at Dunton and Dagenham. The new 999cc triple will be built at Cologne in a new ￡110m production line – and will first be seen in the new Ford Focus in 2012. How powerful is Ford's new 1.0 Ecoboost?