2004 04-07 Buell Xb12r Xb 12r 12 Firebolt Gauge Cluster Tach Speedo Meter on 2040-parts.com

Car companies, community & a cause

Last Saturday night (April 20) was one of those I-can't believe-I-get-paid-to-do-this kind of evenings. My wife Maria and I -- along with 550 of our closest friends -- were invited to attend the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute's 31st annual dinner. The name sort of says it all, and the dinner is a simple enough concept that even I get it: It's held to raise money.

Chrysler unplugs Envi electric-vehicle division

Envi, the team of engineers charged with developing electric vehicles for Chrysler, has been disbanded. A spokesman told Reuters that development of electric cars will be integrated into the company's traditional structure. “Envi is absorbed into the normal vehicle-development program,” Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa told the wire service.

Driven: Nissan Juke

Nowhere is the fragmentation of established market segments more evident than when thumbing through Nissan's current brochures. The new Nissan Juke, the smallest and most extreme member of Nissan's crossover range, is pitched as an 'urban proof' alternative to more conventional superminis. We took it to the streets to see how Nissan's scattershot small car strategy – which sees a range of four models occupying a similar space physically and fiscally – plays out.