Concept Car of the Week: Vauxhall VX Lightning

Both Ford and Vauxhall celebrated their 100-year anniversaries in 2003, but despite much of the attention being focused on the American giant, GM's UK subsidiary unveiling its own birthday present: the VX Lightning. Revealed at the Dorchester Hotel in London in May, the Vauxhall Lightning concept was a joint project between the GM North America (GMNA) Advanced Design Studio in England and the Opel/Vauxhall Design Center in Rüsslesheim, Germany. The Vauxhall ‘V' brand motif is a recurring theme throughout the car, despite the company's relative lack of global recognition.

Designer Tom Matano part of start-up car company in Louisiana

A new auto company backed by Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano plans to build "environmentally friendly" vehicles in Louisiana. V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, will bring about 1,400 workers to a Monroe plant that once belonged to General Motors, according to a statement Wednesday from the Louisiana Economic Development Web site.

F1: Back in the U.S.A. 2012

The F1 Grand Prix Circus returns to the USA in 2012 The Americans have never really fallen in love with Formula One in the way the rest of the world – and particularly the Europeans – have. They have plenty of race series of their own, many arguably more exciting. Which you would think would be a good enough reason not to worry too much about the lack of a US Grand Prix on the calendar since the last one in Indianapolis in 2007.