Gm Oem Wheels-wheel Nut 9596863 on 2040-parts.com

Five most-watched car ads of 2011

Page views: They're life and death on the Web, and for an automaker trying to make an advertisement go viral, page views and the eyeballs viewing them are what it's all about. This year was big for the top-five viral automaker ads: Volkswagen's “The Force” spot hit 63 million views, while Fiat grabbed 27 million with its Jennifer Lopez song. The Chrysler “Imported From Detroit” Super Bowl ad was next, with 22 million views.

Peugeot Design Contest 2008

Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar from Colombia was last week announced as the winner of the 5th annual Peugeot Design Contest at the 2008 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris. The 25 year old designer's winning 'RD' concept was chosen via an online internet poll and a competition jury headed by Peugeot's Managing Director, Jean Philippe Collin. This year's contest asked designers to "Imagine the Peugeot in the worldwide megalopolis of tomorrow" and to then design a car that could evolve with the cities of the future, while retaining the key values of the 21st century.

AutoWeek office swag: Mazda rotary-engine keychain with realistic motion

When I got the keys to our long-term 2011 Mazda 5 last week, they came with a surprise--this aluminum-and-brass keychain in the shape of a rotary-engine housing, complete with moving rotor. The rotor doesn't just rattle around or spin in a circle. Thanks to a thumbwheel on the back of the housing, coupled with a timing gear and offset crank journal, the thing actually moves in an approximation of epitrochoidal motion just like a real Wankel.