2011 Ford Flex Original Sales Brochure on 2040-parts.com

Michelin launches 2012 Challenge Design competition

What began back in 2000 as a forum for people who share a passion for vehicle design and innovation has grown to inspire thousands of entries from 96 countries. Over the past decade, Michelin Challenge Design (MCD) participants have submitted vehicle design concepts for personal and public transport addressing a broad range of geographic themes and industry issues. And now, as the 2011 program draws to a close, MCD has announced the 2012 program, which opens for pre-registration from October 1, 2010 to March 4, 2011.

One lap of the Web: The 917 song, eating an engine block and Saab sputters back to life?

-- Your author can attest to the aural joy of a properly tuned Porsche flat-six (cooled by air, please), but FlatSixes has posted a video of a 12-cylinder 917K lapping Monza at full-tilt that'll make your mouth water. -- We're all aware of what happens to "end-of-life" vehicles: The crusher or, in many cases, the shredder takes what was once someone's pride and joy and returns it to raw materials. But have you ever seen it happen?

Teen-created PSAs combat distracted driving

Two widely held assumptions about 21st-century American teenagers is that they're too busy with their smartphones to have any interest in cars and that any who manage to find their way behind the wheel are too distracted to drive safely anyway. These generalizations are broad, unfair and perhaps even counterproductive -- yet they're reinforced every time distracted driving leads to a preventable tragedy. That's why we were glad to see young drivers take action by creating a series of anti-distracted-driving public safety announcements for the Teens Drive Smart Video Contest.