Textron Aviation Potent F78ec103m on 2040-parts.com

Transmissions gone wild!

If you've been car shopping recently, or just paying attention to Autoweek car reviews, you've noticed that the six-speed automatic -- de rigueur as recently as a year ago -- suddenly has ratio envy. The new hotness? Eight- and nine-speed automatic transmissions.

Smokin' video: Ken Block carves up France's l'Autodrome in new Gymkhana run

Rally star and DC Shoes purveyor Ken Block has delivered another piece of wild driving with his latest Gymkhana video--this time carving up the high-banked track at France's Linas at l'Autodrome. If you can dream it, Block can do it--180-degree and 360-degree turns and figure eights in a custom-built, all-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta. There's even a shower of sparks at the end.

Pininfarina readies 'Sergio' concept for Geneva

Pininfarina is readying a concept car dedicated to the late Sergio Pininfarina to be shown at the Geneva motor show. The Pininfarina Sergio is hailed as a celebration of the brilliant life's work of the man who headed the Italian design house for 40 years before passing away last July. Just one image has been revealed so far but we're promised a modern vision of the great man's creations, described by Pinin as "a modern vision in the name of exclusivity, innovation and passion".