Vintage 30"s Chevrolet Horn Button on 2040-parts.com

A younger, sportier look for Mercedes-Benz pays off with U.S. customers

When it comes to design, Mercedes-Benz was long the conservative grande dame of luxury-car makers. Styling was understated and aimed at middle-aged buyers. But a shift toward sportier and more youthful styling, partly driven by U.S.

News watch July 2011: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: car news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Friday 29 July• The BBC and Sky have a agreed a TV deal for F1, which will see the Beeb only broadcast half of all Grand Prix races from the 2012 season (BBC) • Aston Martin Racing will revert to its older, V12-powered DBR1-2 LMP1 racer for the remainder of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) while the new straight six-powered AMR-One 'continues to undergo review' (Aston Martin Racing)• Dr Heinz-Jakob Neußer is to take charge of drivetrain development at VW from Volkswagen 1 October 1 2011. His predecessor Dr Jens Hadler is leaving at his own request, and Dr Rüdiger Szengel is to become deputy head of VW's drivetrain development and retain his role as head of petrol engine development (Volkswagen) Thursday 28 July• Porsche today dug the first soil at its €150m extension of the Weissach R&D base.

Japan's concept cars - the craziest of the noughties

By Alex Michaelides Motor Shows 19 August 2009 10:00 Here we are, celebrating the best cars that Japan has produced, but what about the ones it hasn’t? At many motor shows – and particularly ones in its back yard – the Japanese industry serves up some wild concept cars which boggle the brain and tickle the ribs. It’s hardly surprising that few of them hit the mainstream.