Corvette Wheel Outer Seal, Rear, 1963-1982 on 2040-parts.com

LA auto show 2011 review by Ben Pulman

When the automotive industry was in the midst of recession, the LA auto show carved out a niche for itself as the place to be seen to be green. Detroit represented the big, bad gas-guzzling old school, but the forward-thinking culture of southern California meant the relaxed atmosphere of the LA Convention Centre was the perfect setting to preview the smaller, more compact and more fuel-efficient future. This year it was different.

Porsche Macan out playing in the desert ahead of an L.A. debut (video)

Porsche Macan (pictured) out playing in the desert ahead of an L.A. debut With Porche’s baby Cayenne – the new Porsche Macan – due to make its public debut in production guise at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month, Porsche has been busy building up interest in what should be their biggest seller in the years to come. There’s already a microsite for the Porsche Macan where Porsche has been busy teasing those who are interested with snippets of information and disguised photos, but now we get the Macan out frolicking on the sandy desert dunes in Dubai, the sort of video you’ll see from any car maker with a vehicle to show off that has off-road pretensions.

The next F1: McLaren plans replacement for supercar

Formula One powerhouse McLaren secretly has begun work on a replacement for its legendary F1 supercar, while it also gears up to become a mainstream sports-car maker. McLaren's Technology Center in Woking, England, has built some 2,000 McLaren SLR supercars a year for Mercedes-Benz, but McLaren boss Ron Dennis reportedly has his sights set on producing 1,000 of its upcoming Ferrari F430-fighting P11s a year starting in 2011. The number, Dennis said, will rise to 4,000 cars by mid-decade as future models such as the Porsche 911-challenging P8 come on line.