Cortech Impulse St White/red Leather Gloves, Sz Medium on 2040-parts.com

Bloodhound 1000mph World Speed Record attempt goes carbon neutral. Piffle.

Richard Noble’s Bloodhound Land Speed Record attempt will now be carbon neutral thanks to sponsorship by Carbon Neutral Investments (CNI). People like Richard Noble – leader of the Bloodhound Project aiming to break the 1000mph land speed record – are made of the same stuff as Spitfire pilots and Biggles, with a gung-ho approach to the inherent dangers and an inability to contemplate failure; British Bulldog Spirit at its best. So it seems almost sad that a proper Boy’s Own adventure like the Bloodhound SSC – a 133,000bhp rocket and jet powered racing car – should bow to trendy PC sensibilities by announcing it’s a ‘Carbon Neutral’ project.

Alfa Romeo 4C convertible likely for 2015

Conventional wisdom holds that if you want to take on Porsche's 911, you need a convertible variant. And although Alfa Romeo's often marched to the beat of a wonderfully idiosyncratic drummer, it sounds as if it's hewing to general sporting-car rules of thumb with the 4C. According to a report in Britain's Autocar, sources have confirmed that a 4C convertible will follow the launch of the coupe by about a year.

One Lap of the Web: Metal Machine Mazdas

-- Someday, for some reason, you might find yourself in Jaworzno, Poland. And if you're there, you might drive down Grunwaldzka and make a right on Krolowej Jadwigi (we've never been to Jaworzno, actually) and end up at the Jeff Hanneman Circle Pit, a roundabout named after the late guitarist from Slayer and, therefore, the most badass road junction in the universe. The traffic circle could -- and should -- also double as a demolition derby for FSO Polonezes.