Stainless Mercruiser Shift Plate on 2040-parts.com

Maybach from Jay-Z and Kanye West video up for auction

Just because Daimler shut down Maybach in November doesn't mean that the marque won't still fetch top dollar on the open market. But, if buyers want something with a little more flair and a little less Grey Poupon, they can head to the Phillips de Pury & Co. auction in New York to pick one up that was used in the Jay-Z and Kanye West video for the song “Otis.” The Maybach 57 with a pedigree is expected to go for about $125,000, a third of what one costs new.

Pace cadets: At AMG academy, students take their finals with their right feet

Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe. The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program.

Audi at CES 2011

Audi will position itself as the leader in in-car electronics, is working on augmented reality head up and 3D cockpits displays, and has already integrated NVIDIA's very latest Tegra 2 super processor to power the HMI of the next A3. Those were just a few of the highlights from a keynote speech given by Rupert Stadler, Chairman of Audi, on the opening morning of the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Stadler drove onto the stage in the E-tron Spyder concept last seen at the Paris auto show — here painted a fetching shade of deep red — together with CES founder and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro.