Infiniti Qx4 on 2040-parts.com

Japan's concept cars - the craziest of the noughties

By Alex Michaelides Motor Shows 19 August 2009 10:00 Here we are, celebrating the best cars that Japan has produced, but what about the ones it hasn’t? At many motor shows – and particularly ones in its back yard – the Japanese industry serves up some wild concept cars which boggle the brain and tickle the ribs. It’s hardly surprising that few of them hit the mainstream.

Drayson Racing aiming for Electric car World Land Speed Record

The Drayson B12 69/EV – heading to RAF Elvington to break the EV land speed record. One of the best uses for electric car technology is to deliver copious amounts of instant torque for track cars – far more than an ICE engine manages – and Drayson Racing Technology is aiming to prove how much that electric power can help by taking its Drayson B12 69/EV to RAF Elvington on 25th June to attempt to break the land speed record for an EV. That record – 175mph – has stood since 1975 (which probably shows how little EV technology has really moved on in the last 40 years), but the low-drag version of the Drayson electric Le Mans prototype is aiming to break that down the 1.86 mile runway at Elvington.

Aston Martin Rapide: Is the Rapide not selling?

Aston Martin Rapide - doesn't seem to be selling It took AML an age to get the Aston Martin Rapide to market, but they eventually managed it and the first customer Rapide finally left Magna Steyr in May 2010. The general consensus was that the Rapide was something of a triumph for Aston Martin. They’d managed to squeeze an extra pair of doors in to a stretched DB9 and made the back seats of the Rapid just about commodious enough to be useable.