Bmw M30 Lower Intakes Manifolds 1975 on 2040-parts.com

CES: GM to open the dashboard to developers

At last year's Autoweek Design Forum, father of the iPod and Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell suggested that automakers concentrate on designing and building cars, leaving handset makers to handle infotainment. The latest announcements from Ford and GM -- in conjunction with the International CES -- suggest that automakers would rather treat the dashboard space as a handset. Yesterday, Dearborn, Mich., announced the Ford Developer Program, which opens up Sync to outside application development; now General Motors has announced a similar initiative.

Aston Martin DB9 Facelift spied

The 2011 Aston Martin DB9 Facelift There’s a fair bit going on at Aston Martin at the moment, a big change from just a year ago when the recession was causing huge pain. We’ve had the launch of the car the V8 Vantage always threatened to be with the initially limited edition Aston Martin V12 Vantage, and the news that the V12 Vantage is US bound and no longer a limited edition. The big news for AM this year has been the launch (finally) of the most beautiful 4 door car in the world – the Aston Martin Rapide – which frankly could handle like a dog and take 20 seconds to get to 60 mph and we’d still want one, so achingly gorgeous is it by any measure of saloon car gorgeousness.

Bentley EXP 9 F (2012) new pictures

Bentley has today released a new series of pictures of the EXP 9 F concept car, designed to reflect the car's all-terrain ability and 'Bentley’s intent to build the fastest and most luxurious SUV in the world.' With a 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine good for 592bhp and 590lb ft, you'd expect the Bentley 4x4 to be no slouch. But the big question remains: is the EXP 9 F's styling growing on the naysayers? Bentley SUV: on or off-road?