Mercury Tilt Trim Motor 827675a1 on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: Pininfarina CNR-PF (1978)

In the 1970s alarm bells were ringing in the energy sector as a series of energy crises and rising fuel prices spiralled. The car industry was forced to produce a new generation of more efficient cars and designers were putting new models through wind tunnels to optimize their aerodynamic performance to reduce aerodynamic drag. Some pushed the limits further than others and none more so than Pininfarina, which designed a car that slipped through the air twice as efficiently than any other.

Infiniti means . . . what?

Ever since Infiniti was launched with mystifying advertising images of rocks and trees 21 years ago, Nissan Motor Co.'s luxury brand has been hard to pin down. Vehicles such as its G37, the 2011 M sedan and the QX56 SUV turn heads and win praise in buff books. But while luxury competitors such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus have soared in consumer popularity over the past decade, Infiniti has struggled to keep up.

One Lap of the Web: Moonbuggies, the first car phone and a romp in the snow with an EVO

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Obama named Charlotte, N.C.