Toyota Oem 699040c020 Lift Gate-guide Rail on 2040-parts.com

Local Motors 'Design Our Car' competition opens

Local Motors has opened its first-ever ‘Design Our Car' competition, which encourages collaboration within the manufacturing community. The open-source automaker is providing two of its Rally Fighter cars, one of which will be built at the company's micro-factory in Arizona while the other will be built live in the Emerging Technology Center at September's International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. Ideas from the design and engineering community are being sought to help design and select a skin for the Rally Fighter that will be built by the Local Motors team this spring.

Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon TI is spotted in metro Detroit

It's tough to say what a metro Detroit sighting of this manufacturer-plated Alfa Romeo 159 TI Sportwagon portends for the Italian automaker's long-anticipated return to the American market--probably nothing. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's plan to bring Alfa Romeo back to the United States features the sporty, limited-edition 4C coupe, the subcompact MiTo and the midsize Giulia, but not the out-of-production 159. Still, a domestic sighting of a brand-new Alfa Romeo is a rare enough occurrence that we're happy to share these photos without further comment.

Celebrity cars up for grabs: from Rod Stewart's Lambo to Arthur Daley's Jag

It’s celebrity fever in the world of used cars at the moment. Not only has Rod Stewart’s old Lamborghini Miura just been put up for sale, but auctions in the UK and US also have everything from an EastEnders milk float and Arthur Daley’s Daimler to star cars of the latest Hollywood blockbusters up for grabs. Click on the image above to see our highlights...