1950 Cadillac Wheel Cover (#3) on 2040-parts.com

Gumpert back with the Gumpert Tornante at Geneva

The Gumpert Tornante will debut at Geneva We realised at the end of last Summer that Gumpert had been very quiet. We’d run a few stories – for example when the Gumpert Apollo S et a Nurburgring record – but really, very little. And then we discovered that Gumpert had been on the edge of financial oblivion and had laid off almost all its staff.

Volvo makes breakthrough in battery tech

Volvo has developed a new way of ‘storing’ energy for its future electric vehicles. The Swedish firm is exploring the concept of lightweight structural energy storage components made from carbonfibre, containing “nano structured batteries and super capacitors.” This technology is said to offer a lighter, more compact solution to the problem of energy storage, potentially removing the need for the heavy, bulky batteries used in current electric vehicles. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo S80 Find out how much a used Volvo S80 costs on Auto Trader The investigation into the new technology is part of an EU-funded research project, undertaken by Volvo – the only major car manufacturer involved – and nine other organisations.

The anti-drink-drive car

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 03 August 2007 02:25 Nissan today unveiled its answer to drink-driving: the car that monitors the driver's alcohol level before every journey and stops you if you're about to break the law. Boffins at the Japanese firm have equipped a domestic market Fuga with monitoring equipment that can spot if a driver has been boozing. It's so sophisticated, engineers claim it can differentiate between perfume (which often contains alcohol) and tell if it's the driver or the passengers that have been drinking.