Vintage Snap-on 1 1/2 Dx-148s Wrench on 2040-parts.com

Happy New Year! Our Top 12 Car News stories of 2011

Top Car News 2011 Happy New Year to all Cars UK readers, and a look back at the top car news stories – month by month – of 2011. It’s the first day of 2012, so it seems like a good time to look back at the top car news stories of 2011. Instead of looking at the most read stories overall of 2011 on Cars UK, we thought we’d have a look at the top story for each month.

GM returns to the Super Bowl, new ads upcoming for the Camaro and Cadillac

If there's one thing Joel Ewanick has made clear since joining General Motors Co. three months ago, it's that he doesn't let grass grow under his feet. And the company's vice president of marketing isn't slowing down anytime soon: In a wide-ranging interview with Advertising Age, an affiliate of AutoWeek, Ewanick let drop that the automaker will return to the Super Bowl in 2011; that an ad campaign will break next month for the Chevy Camaro; and that there's a new tagline coming for Cadillac, "The new standard for the world." "We have so many projects in the works right now," he said.

Concept Car of the Week: Matra Laser (1971)

Founded in 1937, French company Matra began its activities by manufacturing military equipment such as aeronautics and weaponry. In the mid ‘60s, under Jean-Luc Lagardere's ambitious direction, the company bought Automobiles Rene Bonnet to expand its portfolio with street and racing cars. The first model solely developed by Matra was the bonkers, but brilliant, 1967 M530, which took its name from the company's surface-to-air missile the R530.