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How safe are new minicars?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently tested a total of 11 minicars in its relatively new small-overlap crash test, and the Chevrolet Spark was the only one to earn an Acceptable rating. The small-overlap crash test was instituted in 2012 with the goal of better replicating real-life car crashes, most of which don't follow the pattern of traditional government crash tests. Instead of a car hitting a stationary object with 100 percent of its front making contact, the small-overlap test examines how a car behaves in a frontal impact at 40 mph where only a quarter of the car's front hits an object.

Concept Car of the Week: Chevrolet Astro (1967)

It gave its name to a boxy van in the 80s, but the Chevrolet Astro I was one of the most exciting dream cars developed within the GM styling studio. Presented in New York Auto Show in 1967, it was the first of three Astro concepts shown in annual succession and illustrates GM's desire to develop models that were both aerodynamic and attractive. What we might take for granted in aerodynamics nowadays was almost untouched territory in the mid ‘60s.

Forget high beams -- lasers are coming

Audi has kicked off 2014 with the unveiling of an updated version of its Sport quattro concept car -- as first revealed at last year's Frankfurt motor show. Set to underpin the German carmaker's stand at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the latest incarnation of the bullish-looking two-door coupe showcases distinctively styled matrix LED headlamps with new laser light technology that, Audi officials suggest, will soon begin appearing on regular production models as a high-cost option. Already confirmed for the Audi R18 that will compete at the Le Mans 24-hour race later this year, the new headlamps use matrix LEDs and an aperture mask for low-beam mode.