Vintage 1948 - 50 Plymouth Sailing Ship Horn Button Center Cap Original Rare! on 2040-parts.com

Essay: Variable Degrees of Translucency

Car door panels and fenders are generally made of steel, sometimes of aluminum or plastic composites, and you can't see through them. Car windows, on the other hand, are made of a transparent sandwich of glass and plastic - and you can see through them. But in the future there will be variable degrees of transparency: translucent elements where once there were none, traditional window areas that will have opaque elements and graduated progressions from opaque to see-through.

Mercedes-Benz reveals first C-class details

Mercedes-Benz has revealed limited details about its new fourth-generation C-class sedan, more than two months before it is due to make its world debut at the Detroit auto show. Although the new BMW 3-series and Audi A4 rival is yet to official unveiled -- in fact, all we have so far are interior renderings -- Mercedes-Benz says the new C-class will be a significantly more advanced car than its predecessor in terms of construction, with a “best in class” weight figure and a level of structural integrity that it describes as being “unparalleled” in its class. Among its features is a new lightweight body structure that uses a newly developed aluminum hybrid construction process that Mercedes-Benz claims will shave as much as 220 pounds over the current model depending on the engine it uses.

2015 Ford Edge SUV revealed in pictures

This is Ford's latest import into Europe from the US - the Ford Edge SUV. Not content with bringing the all-American Mustang muscle car to the UK next year, Ford is also set to give mid-size SUVs such as the Audi Q5 and Hyundai Santa Fe a run for their money with the all-new Edge. These are the first official details and images of the new car.