1955-6 Chrysler Wire Wheel Centers, Kelsey Hayes on 2040-parts.com

At GM, the tail fin is back--but now it's a blade

Tail fins are making a comeback at General Motors Co., although they are a far cry from the saillike appendages of the 1950s. And this time the company is calling them blades. The look, pioneered on the Chevrolet Volt to improve aerodynamics, will appear on other models to boost fuel economy, said Ed Welburn, GM's global design chief.

Jaguar XJ 3.0 TDV6 Long Term Test (2010): The Intro

Our long-term XJ joins last week's review car - the XF S We moaned about the tease that was the introduction to the new Jaguar XJ, but we dutifully went off to the press launch at the Saatchi Gallery in July 2009 and declared the design a triumph. We looked forward to the promised press cars by Christmas 2009, but they never happened as Jaguar worked to make the new XJ as bullet-proof as a car can be. But by the end of May 2010 the first press cars started to arrive and the first customer cars escaped in to the wild.

OFFICIAL: Alfa Romeo 4C laps the Nurburgring in 8:04s

The Alfa Romeo 4C (pictured) laps the Nurburgring in 8:04s We wouldn’t normally report on a car lapping the Nurburgring in around 8 minutes; after all, the Nurburgring lap record for a full production car is sub-7 minutes, so 8 minutes seems almost a stroll. But the lap time round the Nurburgring for the Alfa Romeo 4C is worthy of note because it’s a new lap record for a production car with less than 250bhp, and puts the Alfa 4C very much on the map as a performance car. We’d heard rumours a few weeks ago that Horst von Saurma has managed the impressive time in the 4C round the Nurburgring, but Alfa has now confirmed the time – with the 4C shod with road-legal Pirelli Zero Trofeo tyres – was completed on 23rd September 2013.