Musclecar & Hi-po Engines Ford 289, 302, Boss 302, And 351w By Hot Rod Magazine 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.

Renault Twizy gets the Formula One treatment

Renault has applied the state-of-the-art kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in its Formula One drivelines to the pint-sized Twizy electric car. The result? A new zero-emission concept whose claimed 0-62-mph acceleration time matches that of the French carmaker's fastest production car, the RenaultSport Megane 265, at 6.0 seconds.

Road-pricing petition closes

By Jack Carfrae Motoring Issues 12 October 2007 11:20 The UK’s controversial debate over pay-as-you-drive road tolls reaches a milestone today with the closure of a popular online protest. Nearly 1.7 million aggrieved motorists have signed the petition since it was launched by Downing Street last November – firmly rejecting Government plans to charge drivers up to £1.34 a mile at peak times.The petition, which closes at midnight on Wednesday (00.00 GMT) proved so popular that it has caused the Downing Street website to crash. And prime minister Tony Blair has vowed to send an email to everyone who signed the petition, justifying Government plans to launch road tolls as the only solution for chronic congestion problems.CAR Online’s take on all this?