Centre Punch Sonic 4552185 on 2040-parts.com

Chevrolet Volt uses parts made from oil-collecting booms

General Motors is transforming about 100 miles of boom material used to soak up oil in the Gulf of Mexico into auto parts for the Chevrolet Volt. The oil-soaked plastic material collected off the Alabama and Louisiana coasts will keep more than 100,000 pounds of waste from the nation's landfills. The project is expected to make enough plastic to supply the first-year production of Volts with plastic parts for under the hood.

50 Years of the BMW 'Neue Klasse'

In a year that sees the celebration of the ever-seductive Jaguar E-Type and the characterful Renault 4, it would be easy to overlook other cars also reaching their half-century, especially a mundane three-box saloon. However, the BMW 1500 isn't any less significant. When launched at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show, intrigued and inquisitive visitors were forced to wait 30 minutes just to catch a glimpse of the car.

Bentley SUV: Redesign already under way

Bentley SUV already being re-thought It seems the reception for the EXP 9 F – the Bentley SUV ‘Truck’ – has already got Bentley designers back to the drawing board for a redesign. The Bentley SUV at Geneva – the EXP 9 F Concept – was a real let-down. It was as if Bentley’s designers had been given a single line brief from history and tasked to make Ettore Bugatti’s criticism of Bentleys as ‘The World’s fastest trucks’ come to life.