Harley Davidson Exhaust Muffler 64941-07 on 2040-parts.com

The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

London's GPS-based speed-limit trial puts Big Brother's foot on the gas pedal

A fleet of 12 Toyota Priuses in London have been fitted with GPS-linked speed limiters to measure how drivers respond to having their speed controlled by a computer rather than their own feet. For now, the trial is local to London, run by Transport for London, the agency that manages the city's roads, buses, subways and trains. The agency is using its own fleet of Priuses for the test and will add a bus and a taxi later this year.

Cadillac teases 2013 'glamour' concept car

Looking to recapture some of its past luster, Cadillac showed renderings of a concept car that will appear at a 2013 auto show. The car is an attempt for the brand to "reflect back not for nostalgia, but what made us great at the time," said Clay Dean, Cadillac director of advanced design. Monterey car week is packed with car shows, vintage racing and car auctions.