We've been expecting you: full details on Aston's twin-turbo, 503bhp V8 super coupe “This is our dedicated sports car. It’s simple, pure energy, it’s a hunter. It has a flick in the tail and the lowest nose we’ve ever produced. If the DB11 is a samurai sword, this is a scalpel.” That’s design director Marek Reichman giving us a hands-on intro to the new Aston Martin Vantage. He’s fully spooled up now, arms flying everywhere, his language getting more design-speak by the second. I’ve pressed the pause button here, on his sword/scalpel analogy, not to point and laugh at some marketing guff, but because in truth it’s rather key.

The pack leader is finally here, launched in Sebring Orange to make sure you notice all the significant upgrades that no doubt make it the fastest street car GM has ever made. Not all Corvette generations spawn a ZR1, but the previous one from 2009 left quite an impression with its 638 horsepower LS9. Eight years wiser, the Corvette team used all they had to create a worthy successor. Looking at all the figures, the C7 ZR1 shouldn't disappoint.

It’s not every day a titan of industry predicts the demise of his own. But Bob Lutz, the former vice chairman of General Motors, believes the auto industry is not long for this world. “It saddens me to say it, but we are approaching the end of the automotive era,” he writes this month for Automotive News. Our daily travel, he predicts, will migrate to standardized passenger modules as the demolition of the traditional auto industry accelerates.

I once sat around a table with senior U.S. brass from Audi and was laughed at for asking if the brand would ever introduce a drift mode like many of its rivals. Well now rumors and teases indicate Audi will instead offer an R8 that’s always in drift mode with a rear-wheel drive model. Who’s laughing now?

Lotus has, for the "first time in many years," reported a profit, according to the press release from the automaker. Lotus called this event a "radical financial turnaround" and "a major milestone" in the history of the company. Specifically, the recently-minted Geely subsidiary posted a positive EBITDA (that's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for you non-finance majors) last year of £2 million or $2.6 million in today's exchange rates—a significant achievement considering the company lost the equivalent of over $21 million by the same metric the year before that.

The Tesla Model 3 is the most important car in the world right now. Motor Trend got an exclusive drive. Is it worth the fanfare and the price?

It's hard to imagine the car world without Rolls-Royce. For over a century, it has been the unapologetic automotive signifier of wealth, success, celebrity and status. And while the company has experienced as many ups and downs as any other manufacturer -- if not a few more -- The Spirit of Ecstasy has remained a shining beacon of luxury. But even within Rolls-Royce, there is a hierarchy, and firmly at the top for over 90 years, the Phantom has earned adoration the world over as simply the best car money can buy.

Not quite but they have come very close. Overnight, Tesla made some changes to their available options, making some options standard, and notably eliminating one thing: leather seats. As of now, Tesla only sells vegan seats. While this lack of leather is not made explicit on the Tesla configuration page, any mention of leather has been removed, and all upgraded interiors are now referred to with Tesla’s “premium” designation which they applied to the original rollout of vegan seats made of a new synthetic material.

Why should Mercedes build an E-Class 4x4x2 when they have a full range of proper SUVs and an iconic G-Class? Because it can. No other luxury brand is as successful as when it comes to developing off-road toys. And in contradiction to the original G-Class 4x4x2 or the AMG G63 6x6 you won’t have to be a billionaire to play with it.

Following the successful introduction of the Lotus Evora 400 and Evora Sport 410 to global markets, Lotus has unveiled its most powerful road-going model ever - the Evora GT430. A beautiful and pure combination of elegance and power, Lotus has lavished attention on hand crafted carbon-fibre components to endow this fully homologated Evora with a level of precision engineering and design unseen before.

Before they can transform our roads, self-driving cars need rules. But how can we formulate regulations for a technology that doesn't fully exist yet?

In Volvo's view, the combustion engine is going the way of tailfins and ashtrays. Volvo will begin producing electric motors on all its cars from 2019, becoming the first traditional automaker to forgo the combustion engine altogether. The Swedish company, which has been making cars since 1927 and has in recent decades become famous for its station wagons and safety features, said Wednesday that the decision was prompted by the wishes of customers, describing it as "one of the most significant moves by any car maker."

The more and more automotive journalists and PR people you talk to, the clearer it becomes that half of them already have some sort a Porsche 911, with the other half wanting to have one, often quite badly. The enthusiasts' love for these stubbornly rear-engined sports cars knows no bounds, except perhaps when it comes to the 996 generation, built from 1997 to 2005.

His comments quell concerns that the V12 will be downsized and turbocharged, as with Ferrari’s V8s, or even axed entirely. ‘‘We will always offer a V12,” said Marchionne. “Our head of engine programmes told me it would be absolutely nuts to [put a] turbocharger on the V12, so the answer is no. It [will be] naturally aspirated, with a hybrid [system].” The electrification is not all about lowering CO2, either, said Marchionne...

The Mazda 3 is the company’s best selling model and for a good reason. It is reasonably cheap to own, it looks great and it is a blast to drive. The car, like any other, is not perfect, though. It lacks a more powerful version and it isn’t exactly the best car regarding comfort. Things have been improved with the facelifted model but not by much. It seems that Mazda might be preparing for a new model altogether.

The COO of Lamborghini makes no bones about what an SUV will mean for the exotic Italian automaker. "It's going to change the landscape of the company," Alessandro Farmeschi told Business Insider when we sat down at the Detroit auto show last month. When the Lamborghini Urus goes on sale later this year, it will enable Lambo to join the high-performance luxury SUV party — a party that kicked off way back in 2002, when Porsche debuted the Cayenne SUV. In the last year, the festivities have decidedly heated up...

Let’s say that, for some reason, you really don’t want humans to drive in cleaner, more enjoyable, more exciting, safer, better electric cars. How do you go about slowing down the transition? Below are prescriptions for four different groups (automakers, the media, investors, and politicians) that could “pitch in and do their part” to delay the transition.

Even as the capabilities of self-driving cars continue to evolve, it is not a given that consumers will choose to buy one. What is equally likely is that autonomous vehicles will transform the automotive industry entirely. According to some estimates, there could be as many as 10 million cars with self-driving features on the road by 2020. In fact, surveys suggest there will be fewer car owners and more driverless vehicles in the future.

Unfortunatelly, not many industrial sets appeared in the history of LEGO. If anything, couple of such structures were released in 70s. Gravel depot for example from LEGO-351-1 set. That was still not the building in mini-figure scale, so it is hard...