Blackcorvette Hood Decals C4 on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: John Puskar and Liz Wetzel appointed to new roles at GM Design

As part of an ongoing strategy at General Motors, this past month has seen a series of moves taking place within the company's design organization in Europe and the US. Two of the key changes have been the appointment of John Puskar to the role of Director of Cross-Brand Strategy, C&T and Components in North America, and that of Liz Wetzel, who has been named Director of GME Design Interior – effectively filling Puskar's role. Puskar, who until recently headed the Opel/Vauxhall Interior Design at the European Design Center in Russelsheim, Germany, majored in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art and worked at Ford in both the USA and Germany before joining General Motors as a creative designer at the GMC Brand Center in 1999.

2014 Subaru WRX STI sets new Isle of Man TT lap record

The new Subaru WRX STI set a new Isle of Man TT record lap Last month we reported that rally driver Mark Higgins was heading back to the Isle of Man in an almost standard Subaru WRX STI to have a crack at breaking the record he set on the TT course in 2011 in the last WRX STI. The 2011 lap record Higgins set was the first time the record had been broken in 21 years, a record set by Tony Pond in 1990 in a Rover 827 Vitesse in a stunning drive in a less than ideal car for the task. Mark Higgins, perhaps unsurprisingly, blitzed Tony Pond’s 100mph average speed round the TT course and turned in a time of 19:56.7 at an average speed of 113mph.

AC Schnitzer upgrades the Mini Cooper coupe

The Mini Cooper coupe is still fresh--it hasn't been out for more than a year. Now, German tuner AC Schnitzer has taken it into the shop for some upgrades. The company is working on performance upgrades for both the diesel- and gasoline-powered cars, starting with a front limited-slip differential.