Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Center stack is new high-stakes battleground; showdown with safety regulators looms

For auto suppliers and gadget companies eager to get a piece of the auto industry, the hottest chunk of vehicle real estate now is the center stack. That corridor of interior space, running from the driver's right hip up through the center of the cockpit to the bottom of the windshield, has become a California gold rush of opportunity. But it is less so for traditional suppliers of molded plastics, cables, levers, buttons and radios.

New Jaguar XE (Jaguar C-X16) Spy Video

New Jaguar XE Spy video - or C-X16, if you prefer Will Jaguar’s new small Roadster – which we’re persisting in calling the Jaguar XE – actually turn up at Frankfurt 2011? Yes, but in the guise of what Jaguar are calling the Jaguar C-X16 ‘production concept’. We’ve had some spy photos of the Jaguar XE before – and we had Jaguar’s sketch of the C-X16 a couple of weeks ago, which told us nothing – and now we’ve got video of the XE (or at least a cut-down XK mule) out testing in Death Valley.

Guggenheim to auction BMW M1 art car

The Guggenheim Museum in New York is selling an original BMW M1 art car to raise funds and to make way for other exhibits. Frank Stella painted the Bavarian supercar in 1979, and it has been part of the Guggenheim collection since 1999. BMW has commissioned many art cars since the program launched in 1975, including another M1 by Andy Warhol and a 3.0 CSL also by Stella.