Ritchie Hb-740 Helmsman Compass - Bracket Mount - Black -hb-740 on 2040-parts.com

Think a sports car makes you more attractive? Think again

It’s a favourite stereotype: a man driving a flashy sports car is more attractive to women – or at least, so he might think. Now a survey by Motors.co.uk suggests that exactly the opposite could be true. While the same research reckons 48% of men subscribe to the stereotyped view, in actual fact women are more likely to find a man driving an eco car more alluring.

BMW Gran Lusso (2013) the Pininfarina coupe revealed

BMW’s team-up with Italian styling house Pininfarina, the Gran Lusso coupe has been revealed in full at the 2013 Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in Italy. The imposing V12-powered coupe is a one-off styling concept for now, but shows the direction BMW could take for a new 8-series coupe, designed to battle the new Mercedes S-class coupe and Bentley Continental GT. BMW Gran Lusso: the details Riding on 21in alloys, the 7-series-sized Gran Lusso has all the trademark BMW styling boxes ticked: forward-raked ‘sharknose’ grille, the rear pillar's ‘Hofmeister kink’ in the windowline, and a cab-back stance accentuating that long bonnet.

Carbon-fiber parts and a software fix help create a lighter, faster Fiat

Chrysler Group's Mopar parts brand and Italian supplier Magneti Marelli have teamed up on a design exercise based on the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth that shaved weight and added horsepower. The vehicle, called the Venom, has a number of carbon fiber components -- hood and side mirrors, for example -- that makes it about 200 pounds lighter than the 2,512-pound Abarth. The Venom uses software updates and additional exhaust components to boost the Abarth's standard 160-hp 1.4-liter turbocharged engine's output by as much as 25 percent.