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

Ralph Gilles talks past, present and SRT future

Ralph Gilles -- SRT boss, Chrysler vice president of design, curator of something called the "Man Van," has become the public face of Chrysler performance, carrying the legacy of Firepower engines and 428 Coronets and the Dodge Viper RT/10 into the future with the Challenger, Charger and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8s. Since "unofficially" helping form it in 2003, Gilles has seen SRT transformed into Chrysler's most coherent performance strategy since Plymouth Rapid Transit, a company-wide force so much greater than the flagship Dodge Viper. He was there from the beginning.

Maybach 57 and 62 Zeppelin: first official photos

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 11 February 2009 14:09 Just when you thought the Maybach brand couldn't go any further into the stratoshphere, Stuttgart goes and announces a new 100-strong limited edition. The new Maybach Zeppelin versions of the 57 and 62 limo revive an old badge from the 1930s, as well as the airship pioneered by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin at the turn of the twentieth century. The 2009-spec Maybach 57 and 62 Zeppelins have an opinion-dividing contrasting paint job, interior tricks galore – and even a 'world first sophisticated perfume atomiser'.

Tesla Eye showcar by IED

The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) was the only university to have a stand at the recent Geneva motor show. Occupying a booth in the center of the upper main hall, the school showcased the Eye concept, a recent project designed by students in the Master of Arts Transportation Design program in collaboration with Tesla Motors. According to IED, the Eye concept was born out of research into the identity promoted by Tesla to achieve a new objective: designing an everyday 2+2 sports car conceived to become a status-symbol; a car with engaging features and sports car performance ideally suited to a young, cosmopolitan target demographic.