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

This could be your first autonomous vehicle

While Google's autonomous fleet of robot cars prowls Silicon Valley and gets all the press, the first, or one of the first, truly autonomous vehicles you may ride in could be something like this: The humble, people-moving Navia. Developed by a French company called Induct, the Navia is ringed with laser beams (not frickin' laser beams. Ed.) that help it navigate through city streets or college campuses without the aid of a track in the ground, a rail or even GPS (GPS is not accurate enough, Induct says).

Parade celebrates astronauts and Corvettes

After Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into outer space in 1961, General Motors executive Ed Cole presented the astronaut with a new 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, customized with a space-age interior. Shepard had brought along his own 1957 Corvette when he reported for the space-training program in 1959. Thanks to a special lease arrangement between the space men and a Melbourne, Fla., Chevy dealership, six of the Mercury Seven astronauts were Corvette owners.

EyesOn Design 2008

If seeing is believing, then the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO) does their share of making new believers annually, including those who are visually impaired. Originally founded in 1972 by Dr. Philip Hessburg and his associates in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, out of a genuine appreciation for fine automobiles, the DIO gives credit to the designers who have given these cars their individual beauty.