Weize 12v 100ah Lithuim Battery Group 24 on 2040-parts.com

Design Contest: Local Motors and Shell announce 'DRIVEN' [w/video]

Local Motors, the open-source car design community, has announced its latest competition. Working in collaboration with Shell Oils, the DRIVEN contest is an acronym for Design of Relevant and Innovative Vehicles for Energy Needs. Entrants are asked to create a car for one of five cities: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Basra, Houston or Sao Paulo.

Singapore billionaire Peter Lim invests in McLaren Automotive

Singapore billionaire Peter Lim has invested in McLaren Automotive and has taken a spot on the board of directors along with Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co., McLaren said on Friday. The company declined to reveal the amount of the investment, but privately held McLaren said it is a “significant amount.” More details of the deal will be announced closer to the Singapore Grand Prix. Lim is ranked as the eighth-richest businessperson in Singapore, according to Forbes, and he owns a chain of Manchester United-themed restaurants and bars in Asia.

The other side of the curtain: A look back at Lada, Volga and more

While Americans in the 1960s and '70s were enjoying the heyday of muscle-car madness, our friends over in the Soviet Union were treated to an entirely different kind of automobile. Fiat-based Ladas and Russian-born Volgas were the cars of the day, and our friends at Retronaut have gathered some press materials and advertisements for the compact sedans. Lada was named after a famous Czech manufacturer of sewing machines in the 1960s.