1983 Yamaha Venture Royale Xvz1200 Xvz 1200 Luggage Rack on 2040-parts.com

First Sight: BMW at the 2012 London Olympics

Director of BMW i design Benoît Jacob showed Car Design News the i Pedelec bicycle alongside a new version of the i3 concept at the company's new Park Lane ‘i store' in London. The compact bike folds artfully into the boot of the car, recharging its batteries when stowed. Made in limited numbers, a few i Pedelecs will run outside its contractual fleet of 4,000 vehicles at the London Olympics.

General Motors fires back at Volkswagen

General Motors issued a terse response this week to published comments by Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who suggested to the German press that Opel could be sold to a Chinese competitor. Detroit-based GM called Winterkorn's comments “regrettable” and accused him of “fanning speculation.” Opel was nearly sold to Magna and Russian investors in the wake of GM's 2009 bankruptcy. But then-CEO Ed Whitacre and the corporate board reversed that decision, igniting controversy from German political and labor leaders who have long chafed under American oversight.

Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing – new pictures

New teaser pictures of the upcoming Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing But time moves on and it won’t be long before we get the full reveal at Frankfurt, so Mercedes is out playing at more tease, and has issued the pictures you see here. And we get a few more details. Auto Motor Und Sport has been talking to SLS designer Hartmut Sinkwitz – who was responisble for the Smart (sublime to the ridiculous springs to mind) – who says that although it is important to pay homage to the Gullwing Mercedes of the ’50s – the inspiration for the new Mercedes SLS – it was vital that the SLS should be a modern car in every respect.