Toyota Prius 04-09 Rear Bumper, Reinforcement Bar, Alluminum 52171-47040 on 2040-parts.com

Walking on the Edge: Ford blings out 2011 Sport crossover with 22s, blacked-out grille

“Dude, that is sick,” a rival designer gushed to Ford's Doyle Letson when the 2011 Edge Sport was revealed at the Chicago auto show last winter. “What does it look like with the real wheels on?” Letson replied, “Those are the real wheels.” The rollers in question are 22-inch forged aluminum wheels with tuxedo-black spoke accents wrapped in Pirelli tires. They look like they're stolen from a SEMA concept, and they're perhaps the single most distinguishing feature on the Sport model, which launches with the rest of the redone Edge lineup later this summer.

Plug-In 2013 conference plugs along

Every now and then, the electric car industry comes together in a sort of Woodstock-of-the-Watt-Hour to take stock of itself and to exchange ideas, sign contracts and maybe have a beer. The most recent parliament of the plug-in was last week in San Diego at an annual industry event known as Plug-In 2013, although obviously they change the year in the title as necessary. Why keep gathering?

Post-World War II Japanese tin toys on display in New York

During the rebuilding of Japan after World War II, a Japanese toy designer took a discarded tin can and molded it into an intricate model car. Just inches in length, it created a phenomenon in the 1940s and '50s in Japan called “buriki.” Buriki is derived from “blik,” which is Dutch for "tin toy." A collection of 70 tin-toy vehicles manufactured in Japan is currently on display at New York's Japan Society Gallery. The exhibit, called “Buriki: Japanese Tin Toys from the Golden Age of the American Automobile, The Yoku Tanaka Collection,” runs until Aug.