1962-1981 Gm 8" Rear View Mirror on 2040-parts.com

Ford builds it, you test it

Only a select few usually get the opportunity to test out upcoming vehicles. Ford is bucking that trend by allowing customers to sign up at BuiltToughTest.com, and get the chance to explain how they would put the aluminum reinforced 2015 Ford F-150 to the test. Product development does extensive testing to the extremes, going as far as disguising the F-150 and running it through the 2013 Baja 1000.

2014 Jeep Cherokee delayed?

Chrysler Group late today took the unusual step of postponing a planned media drive of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee scheduled for early next month but vowed that "vehicles will still be in showrooms in September." The media event -- in which waves of national and foreign journalists were to gather in Seattle between Aug. 8 and 14 to drive the Cherokee for the first time -- was delayed until at least the first half of September, according to an email from the automaker. "Over the last couple of weeks during final quality and durability testing, we have discovered the opportunity to further improve powertrain calibration" in the Cherokee, the company said.

Driven: Range Rover Evoque

As Sam Livingstone opines in his review of the latest Porsche 911, we are in a period of car design consolidation, with the new 911 the ultimate expression of a slightly suffocating trend. Yet every so often, a vehicle appears that breaks these rules and – through a combination of factors that can be difficult to quantify – captures the imagination, becoming a symbol of the times and an overnight market success. Such vehicles tend to emerge once a decade or so, yet the late 90s and early noughties were extraordinary for giving birth to three – the Ford Ka of '96, Audi TT of '98 and Mini of '01.