94-01 Ram 1500 2500 3500 Regular Cab 3" Black S/s Running Boards Side Step Bar on 2040-parts.com

SAIC wins LA Auto Show Design Challenge

China's SAIC, the parent company of Roewe and MG brands (yes, Morris Garages and what used to be Rover), took the top spot in the LA Auto Show Design challenge with its Mobiliant Concept, beating other contestants like BMW DesignworksUSA, Subaru, Mazda, Changfeng, Quoros, and others. The theme for this year's challenge at the LA Auto Show was "Biomimicry & Mobility 2025: Nature's Answer to Human Challenges." Entrants were directed to propose design concepts that integrated the concept of biomimicry into transportation concepts. Quite a challenge and quite an open theme, especially when you consider that last year's theme was pretty straightforward: "Highway Patrol Vehicles in the Year 2025." In 2012 the Subaru SHARC concept took the top prize.

Range Rover Hybrid completes Silk Trail Expedition to India (video)

Range Rover Hybrid completes Silk Trail Expedition to India Land Rover has been busy for the last 53 days taking a trio of Range Rover Hybrids down the Silk Trail from Land Rover’s home in the Midlands to Tata’s home in India. In the process, the three Range Rover Hybrids, and their Land Rover support vehicles, have covered 10,472 miles in 53 days covering every terrain imaginable – and averaged 36mpg in the process. The whole point of the outing was to give the hybrid Range Rover a proper workout ahead of its customer launch, and the trek to India certainly provided that with everything from sea level to 5500 metres and temperatures from -10 to 43C along the way, not to mention the vast array of terrain from tarmac to non-existent byways.

Concept Car of the Week: Alfa Romeo BAT 7

This week sees the Concept of the Week title go to Alfa Romeo and Bertone for their collaboration on the Alfa Romeo BAT 7, the second addition to the BAT series that began in 1953 and finished in 1955. First seen at the 1954 Turin motor show, this wildly futuristic ‘dream' car came about after Alfa Romeo contacted Giuseppe "Nuccio" Bertone of the Bertone carrozeria to commission three concepts with the lowest possible drag coefficient. The cars were named BAT for "Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica." Built upon the Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis, the BAT cars featured large rear bumpers and curved fins, and the concepts achieved a drag coefficient of just 0.19 - an impressive result.