Groups form coalition in effort to replenish the Bonneville Salt Flats

An effort to save the historic Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is under way with a salt replenishment program to permanently preserve the land. The national landmark is an essential piece of American motorsports heritage, as scores of world land-speed records have been set on the unique formation. The densely packed expanse of land is the dried remnants of a huge prehistoric lake.

2013 Aston Martin DB9 – Virage Vanquished

Aston Martin has given the DB9 a makeover – a facelift and a bit more – for 2013 as the tweaked DB9 signals the end of the Virage. But all is not lost with the Virage, as the 2013 DB9 gets a Virage makeover – inside and out as well as more power from its V12 and the addition of Aston Martin’s adaptive damping. The 5.9 litre V12 engine under the new DB9′s bonnet now offers 510bhp and 442lb/ft of torque – more than the Virage managed to muster – and is much the same as the revised AM11 V12 we see in the new Vanquish but with a bit less power.

Lincoln MKC – it’s an upmarket Ford Kuga: 2013 Detroit Auto Show

Ford has revealed the Lincoln MKC Concept at the Detroit Auto Show, a titivated upmarket offering based on the Ford Kuga. Despite strong sales on the other side of the Pond, Ford is struggling in Europe – just like every other mainstream car brand – and they’re probably ruing the day they decided to unravel their Premier Auto Group, selling off Aston Martin, Volvo and – their biggest mistake – Jaguar Land Rover. Which means that if Ford want to get back in to the – potentially very profitable – realm of premium cars again they’re stuck with doing it with one of their ‘brands’.