Bracket Muffler, For 914 2.0l Porsche®, 1973-1974 on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes signs joint venture to build carbonfibre parts

Not to be outdone by BMW’s joint venture with the SGL Group to manufacturer commercially viable carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) for the electric Megacity Vehicle, Mercedes has announced a joint venture with Japanese company Toray Industries to manufacturer and market its on CFRP automotive parts. The deal was signed in Germany today, with Toray taking a 50.1% stake, Daimler holding 44.9% and the remaining 5% being taken by other shareholders. The two companies started working together in March 2010, and while Toray has been working on the materials and moulding processes, Merc has designed the automotive parts and the technologies to join the parts together.

Rosberg & Hamilton make it a Mercedes front row: Spanish Grand Prix (2013)

Maybe Lewis Hamilton wasn’t as daft as we all thought jumping ship from McLaren and heading off to Mercedes F1. When we all thought the Mercedes F1 team didn’t have a chance of doing anything special in 2013, Hamilton and Rosberg have proved the 2013 car is a strong contender, and in final qualifying for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix they’ve locked out the front row. Hamilton’s team mate Rosberg beat him to pole position – his second pole in a row – with Red Bull’s Vettel having to settle for third place alongside Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus.

Aston Martin Rapide Luxe revealed

The Aston Martin Rapide Luxe For some reason Aston Martin has decided that they need to offer a new trim level on the Rapide – the Aston Martin Rapide Luxe. Which, if this were a rather more prosaic car, we’d understand. You need to define for the punter the pecking order within a range, and you need an excuse to extract a few bob more in the showroom.