The Porsche P1 is lighter, greener and more exclusive than McLaren's new hypercar

Long before the legendary Porsche 911 -- before, even, the Porsche 356 -- Ferdinand Porsche was tinkering with alternative powertrains and designing road-worthy vehicles. Though it wasn't the first vehicle to bear his name, the “Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model” was the earliest result of his efforts. Perhaps getting the jump on the modern alpha-numeric craze/plague, it was shortened to a simple “P1.” The P1 (we'll refer to it as the Porsche P1 from here on out to avoid confusion) made its first appearance in Vienna on June 26, 1898, and it didn't last long in the public eye: Before Porsche decided to pull it out and put it on display, it had reportedly been sitting in a warehouse, untouched, since 1902.

Lamborghini LP640 Roadster (2006): first official pictures

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 29 November 2006 11:10 Lamborghini LP640 Roadster: the lowdown Lamborghini has given its flagship Murcielago – the LP640 – the open top treatment. Conceptually, the Roadster offers no surprises, but its spec is no less breath-taking and its looks truly put the super into supercar. Named after the power output of its uprated V12 in PS, the LP640 has numerous cosmetic tweaks including revised rear lamps and bespoke 18inch rims, and a thorough engineering overhaul.

Honda goes social with the Sounds of Civic songwriting contest

It seems all automakers are tapping the social-media networks these days. From the Ford Mustang Mayhem package to the Toyota Prius plural campaign, conventional wisdom is there's nothing a few thousand Facebook fans can't handle. The latest automaker to hop the train is Honda, which is sponsoring a creative songwriting competition called the Sounds of Civic to mark the debut of the 2012 Honda Civic.