1969 Chevrolet Chevelle 2-door Hardtop Interior Screw Kit on 2040-parts.com

Ford eyes dandelions as sustainable alternative to synthetic rubber

Ford, in conjunction with Ohio State University, is turning to the humble garden weed as sustainable resource, researching the dandelion's potential use as an alternative to synthetic rubber. While the automaker already makes considerable use of sustainable materials in its vehicles – such as soy foam seat cushions and straw-filled plastic for interior trim – this latest discovery opens up a wealth of new possibilities for automotive applications. According to research conducted by Ford, a milky-white substance that is found in certain dandelion roots can produce a sustainable rubber that could be used to create plastic parts for vehicle interiors.

Economic downturn might hit plans for Porsche small roadster

Porsche's decision on whether to build an entry-level roadster will depend on the global economy, CEO Matthias Mueller said. Mueller said that if the automaker decides to go ahead with the car, sales would begin at the earliest in the third quarter of 2014, but probably later. A decision on production will depend on how the global economic situation pans out, particularly in relation to the auto industry, Mueller said.

Infiniti Etherea to become B-Class based Infiniti DX

Infiniti Etherea will become the B-Class based Infiniti DX in 2014 To be entirely fair, the news that Infiniti is going to be build a compact crossover on the new Mercedes B-Class MFA architecture – and that it is the Etherea Concept forming the basis and likely to be called the Infiniti DX – isn’t a huge surprise. We knew last year when Nissan and Mercedes announced a partnership deal that it would impact on Infiniti as well as Nissan. And the first fruits of that have been confirmed by Carl Ghosn, with the news Infiniti will launch a compact crossover in 2014 using the Mercedes MFA platform which underpins the new B-Class.