Piper Lower Cowl Support Kit, P/n 760-770, Nos on 2040-parts.com

Land Rover Range-e plug-in diesel hybrid grabs SMMT Award

Land Rover Range-e wins SMMT Award Just like every other car maker in the world, Jaguar Land Rover are flirting with and developing hybrid powerplants to keep the government-targeted economy and CO2 levels in check, even though neither Jaguar or Land Rover are close to actually launching a hybrid. In fact, Jaguar recently said that 4WD was the next ambition for their cars – not hybrids – and we won’t see a hybrid from Land Rover until the next wave of Land Rover models start to hit the road in 2013. And even then, any hybrid powerplant is likely to be well after initial launch.

HRE introduces retro Vintage Series wheels

First of all, we'd like to point out that under no circumstance--ever--is Brush Script an acceptable typographic substitute when Porsche's iconic Carrera script needs to be replicated. Punto e basta. With that out of the way, we'll admit to rather liking HRE's new BBS-esque 501 wheels, and the 288-GTO-style five-spoke 505s are the very essence of sweet-on-sweet when bolted to a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Opel Astra OPC Extreme debuts before Geneva

The Geneva motor show starts next week, which means we get to see an awesome selection of cars that will never come to our shores. On Wednesday, Opel added the Astra OPC Extreme to that category, which now includes the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, Volkswagen Polo and Aston Martin Vantage N430, among others. The Astra OPC Extreme is 220 pounds lighter than the already-hot OPC, thanks to the use of carbon fiber.