Spectra Premium Industries Inc Gm38b Fuel Tank on 2040-parts.com

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

BMW displays Calder art car, racers and classics at Amelia Island

The first BMW art car -- a 1975 3.0 CSL wearing a paint job designed by Alexander Calder -- headlined a class of significant cars from the German automaker at the 2014 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. It was joined by a BMW M-powered McLaren F1 GTR, a first-generation 320i, winners of the 1975 12 Hours of Sebring, a BMW 320 Turbo race car, and the first BMW convertible. The Calder art car is the first in a series that has spanned more than 40 years of Roundel history.

2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed Preview: A Jaguar-fest

Yasmin Le Bon and the original E-Type Roadster at Goodwood FoS Preview It’s a cold, wet and miserable day and feels more like November than March. So it’s hard to think in terms of the sun shining on the Goodwood Estate, and cars roaring up the Hillclimb, as you stand with a cold beer in hand and soak up the atmosphere. But despite the weather it’s time for Goodwood to present to the 2011 Festival of Speed to the press, and yesterday’s preview turned in to something of a Jaguar spectacular.