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Vauxhall launches speed limit detectors on Insignia (2008)

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 19 June 2008 07:53 Vauxhall's new Insignia will be the first of a wave of cars to have a forward-facing camera that can read road signs. The optional kit will detect speed limit and no overtaking signs – and flash up a reminder to the driver on the dashboard.GM calls the tech, which will be launched in early 2009, Traffic Sign Recognition and it uses a small, wide-angled camera system supplied by Hella. It sits at the top of the windscreen near the rain sensors and rear-view mirror, scanning the road ahead taking 30 photos per second.It's 1984 all over again...With a range of 100 metres, the camera focuses on circular patterns and then interprets the numbers inside by contour comparison; if a match is found on the software's database, that road sign will be flashed up in the driver's binnacle.The front-facing camera is also used as a lane departure warning system, alerting the driver if they unintentionally swerve out of their lane on a motorway.Cars with cameras: a growing trendMore and more manufacturers are fitting cameras to their cars nowadays and you can expect a flood of systems like the Insignia's to be launched in 2009, including the new BMW 5-series.CAR tried out these new systems on Bosch prototypes in 2007.

Koenigsegg Quant – A 4 door supercar

Christian Von Koenigsegg doesn’t do things by halves. Oh, no. A super wunderkid – massively wealthy from entrepreneurial escapades in his 20s – he produces what many would consider to be the ultimate supercar – the Koenigsegg CCXR Edition.

Studebaker trees: Dead company, living advertisement

Some of you may have seen this already; it’s been popular on the map sites for a while. But those who don’t know about Bendix Woods County Park west of South Bend, Ind., feast your eyes on 5,000 pine trees, planted in 1937, spelling Studebaker when viewed from high enough. Bendix Woods park was formerly the Studebaker proving grounds, and much of the track surface is still visible in satellite photos.