Auto Meter 7156 C2; Electric Oil Temperature Gauge on 2040-parts.com

The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

VW CrossBlue concept (2013) first official pictures

This is Volkswagen's next SUV, just revealed at the 2013 Detroit motor show. Called the CrossBlue, it's a 'mid-sized' six-seat SUV aimed specifically at the American market. Yet judging by these images, and to these European eyes, there doesn’t seem to be much ‘mid-sized’ about it – it's a mammoth five metres long, coming in at 200mm longer than a VW Touareg.

Mercedes S500 Hybrid Frankfurt reveal

Mercedes has revealed the S500 plug-in Hybrid at Frankfurt But the S-Class is the ultimates ‘Bankers Car’. So where to go with S Class without destroying the kudos for buyers is a problem. Mercedes made a start with the mild S400 Hybrid, but as we reported recently they are going much further with the S500 Hybrid which was revealed yesterday at Frankfurt.