1963 Corvette Hubcaps,(frosted) on 2040-parts.com

Relatives of older drivers urged to help them ‘hang up their keys’

OLDER DRIVERS whose driving style may have changed or are less able behind the wheel should be aided by relatives in deciding when to hang up their keys, according to an industry expert. Professor Andrew Parks, a chief scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory, warns in a new video interview that older drivers can be very defensive about their driving standards and react badly to any criticism of it. "I know this from my own experience, as I was recently on a car journey driven by my father, the first for 10 years,” he explaned.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV (PHEV) Paris 2012 debut

A production version of the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) will debut at the Paris Motor Show in September. Mitsubishi has already had a couple of stabs at a plug-in hybrid Outlander EV, with the PX-MiEV at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2009 and then again with the imaginatively named PX-MiEV II at last year’s Tokyo Show. But now we’re about to get the production version.

GM reveals new, highly modular Ecotec engine family

GM introduced its new modular family of Ecotec engines on Wednesday at its powertrain headquarters in Pontiac, Mich. The new, reduced-in-size three- and four-cylinder mills will replace three of GM's current engine families, eventually making their way into five of the company's brands. The Ecotec family will eventually spawn 11 engines in total, ranging in displacement from 1.0 liter to 1.5 liters.