Vintage Thompson Aircraft Engine Valve - New In Box on 2040-parts.com

Poll Reveals Car Remains King Despite Congestion Woes

MOTORISTS are trying alternatives to the car to get to work but some find journey times are worsening, according to an AA/Populus survey. More than 20% of 21,000 AA members polled said they had tried different types of transport on their daily commute. These included car sharing, cycling, public transport and motorbikes or scooters.

McLaren X-1 - rebodied MP4-12C supercar (2012)

Sometimes, the best just isn’t good enough. That’s why a wealthy anonymous car collector – garage already full of McLaren F1, McLaren Mercedes SLR and MP4-12C, and goodness knows how many fabulous non-McLarens – thought he’d like to produce his very own one-off supercar. The new McLaren X-1, which makes its debut at The Quail, part of the Pebble Beach weekend, is the result.

Bentley uses 3D printing to prototype new designs [w/Video]

3D printing is changing the way the world makes things by helping people of all disciplines to enhance and refine their ideas cheaply, quickly and effectively.  Bentley is the latest carmaker to utilize the technology to fabricate and prototype different parts to see how they'll look and work on the finished design. Using 3D printers, designers can produce parts from the exterior and interior such as the grille, tires, headlamps and door handles as well as combine different types of contrasting materials, ranging from hard plastics to rubbers of different tensile strengths.  The technology allows the user to create a solid 3D object straight from a digital model by printing layers of material on top of each other. This process rapidly decreases the delivery time, as parts can be printed overnight, and allows designers to be more creative in their ideas because of the reduced cost. Bentley isn't the first carmaker to use 3D printing technology. Audi announced last year it was beginning to prototype vehicle parts using 3D printers.