Carter M4885 Mechanical Fuel Pump on 2040-parts.com

Man-made Modern Luxury Materials in Cars

Luxury, within the context of a car interior, has been closely related to the use of wood and leather for over a century. These natural materials have a familiar organic, tactile quality that are intrinsically desirable attributes for most people and, in today's mass manufactured plastic world, they also assume a luxury or premium quality. Throughout the last century, metal, leather and wood have also been progressively supplanted by bakelite, vinyl and then polymer-based plastic materials in car interiors as well.

VW Golf R 400 could get more than 400PS – which makes a bit of a nonsense of its name

The VW Golf R 400 (pictured) may not actually be an R 400 The Beijing Motor Show last month saw the debut of the VW Golf R 400, an extreme take on the VW Golf R with a full 400 PS (395bhp) at its disposal. When Volkswagen revealed the R 400 as a concept we did note that it looked more production-ready than concept, and it took VW less than a week to confirm that the Golf R 400 was indeed heading for production. Now, just to muddy the waters a bit (or raise expectations), VW’s R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser has said that when the Golf R 400 does arrive it could well be with more than 400PS.

Who's Where: Chrysler's new Design VPs

Following the recent acquisition of a majority stake in the Chrysler Group by Cerburus comes the announcement that there will be a reshuffling at Chrysler's North American design offices.  Joseph Dehner and Brandon Faurote will be taking over Vice President positions at the product design offices in Auburn Hills, replacing Thomas Tremont and David McKinnon. Joseph Dehner will be replacing David McKinnon as Vice President for Small, Premium and Family Vehicle Design on June 1, 2007, moving up from his position as Director of Truck Exterior and Interior Design.