9" Ford Yolk With Pully, Nascar, Arca, Scca, 28 Spline 1330 U Joint Circle Track on 2040-parts.com

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

CCS-AISI Project 2008

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) recently celebrated 20 years of partnership with the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).  Illustrating that environmental responsibility needn't come at the expense of design, power or desire, three students created their individual vision of a "Green Steel" concept car, resulting in the Lincoln Continental, Mazda Hyoryu and Mitsubishi Synthesis. Considering the current energy and environmental global crisis, the students involved in this project took the opportunity to re-think mobility for the year 2040 by developing innovative adaptations for automobiles and proposing a more humanistic approach to transportation.  Mitsubishi Synthesis Dave Owsen This automated 'travelling entertainment center of the future' bridges the gap between public and personal transportation. Utilizing the city traffic tier of the transportation network for navigation, the vehicle also creates a brand media experience for young urban commuters, combining elements of transportation and entertainment.

Parents 'taxi drivers' for their children

PARENTS spend around six months of their lives playing taxi driver for their children, a poll has found. A new survey claims that the average mum and dad clocks up around 30 miles a week ferrying their youngster to school, to clubs and to see friends, spending around three-and-a-half hours in the car. It means that the average parent racks up around 26,741 miles driving their child around between the ages of three and 20, and spends around 3,147 hours behind the wheel, according to Goodyear, which commissioned the poll.