Xantrex Xanbus System Control Panel (scp) F/freedom Sw2012/3012 -809-0921 on 2040-parts.com

CPP buys Zagato

Ferrari 550 GTZ - built by CPP In a move that seems to have received no coverage whatsoever, our favourite specialist car putter-together – CPP (Coventry Prototype Panels as was) – has quietly bought up Zagato. For those of you who are ‘Vlad Watchers’ this may come as no surprise. It seems that Vladimir Antonov is on a quest to buy up everything interesting there is to buy in the specialist car world (and Portsmouth FC too – no accounting for taste!), which includes funding CPP and its recent acquisitions.

Next Dodge Viper will shed some rough edges

Little by little we're getting a clearer picture of the next-generation Dodge Viper SRT10. During a conversation with Dodge boss Reid Bigland at the Los Angeles auto show, Bigland told me the redesigned Viper "will appeal to a broader segment of the market." The car is expected to debut in 2012 but is not likely to appear at the Detroit auto show, he says. Today's Viper is essentially a street-legal race car.

Getting schooled at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Experience

You don't need snow or ice to enjoy the thrills of sliding an all-wheel-drive car sideways, as evidenced by a day at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Experience at Infineon Raceway. The class, operated by the instructors of the Jim Russell USA Racing Drivers School, involves time on coned-lined paddock courses and a large skid pad. But the real fun comes when you put what you've learned to good use on one of the country's most fun racetracks, the 2.52-mile 12-turn Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.