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-- For some light Wednesday reading, here's more information than you ever wanted to know about Packard. It includes the

When the Ford Mustang came out in 1964, some dared deride it as a "secretary's car," as if just happening upon the discovery that women might -- for some reason, who knows,

News 23 Apr, 2014

New Ford Mustang features Line Lock technology, offering drivers burnout starts for drag race-style performance. See the video here...

GM and officials with the National Corvette Museum in the U.S. will meet next month to determine which of eight Corvettes damaged after plunging into a major sinkhole on Feb. 12 are fit to be restored.

Germany's Siemens and state-owned Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive will form a joint venture to produce motors and inverters for hybrid and full-electric vehicles.

Days after Russia annexed a province of Ukraine and U.S. and European forces mobilized, you would expect a conference in the United States on the future of the Russian auto industry to be pessimistic.

BMW is aiming the 2-series coupe at drivers looking for performance and driving dynamics in a compact, rear-wheel-drive package.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally is lining up a substantial corporate position for his next act, probably as a board director or chairman, according to people with knowledge of his plans.

Toyota's Prius hybrid is the best-selling gasoline-electric vehicle in the world. In China, it's about as rare as the endangered giant panda.

From GMM

Red Bull Racing is investigating whether a fault in his chassis is causing Sebastian Vettel's 2014 trough.

Team boss Christian Horner says the reigning quadruple world champion is lacking the "feel" for the RB10, while others think the German is simply being outclassed by his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Dr Helmut Marko has some other theories.

"When downshifting, Sebastian needs a stable rear for his special style of driving. With all the new systems, he doesn't have that yet," the Red Bull director said.

Austrian Marko tipped Vettel to eventually get it right.

"In 2012 it was the same, and by the time he was happy with the rear, he was unbeatable," he is quoted by Germany's Sport Bild.

However, there could be more to the story.

"We don't understand why Vettel's tire wear was so much higher than Ricciardo's," Marko said, referring to the Chinese grand prix.

"We are now investigating whether his (Vettel's) chassis has a fault."

Marko said Red Bull's target is to eliminate a chassis flaw as the potential origin of the problem by giving the 26-year-old a brand new 'Suzie'.

"When a new one is ready, Vettel will get it," he confirmed.

If a chassis flaw is not the problem, however, Marko is not guaranteeing a quick fix to Vettel's troubles.

"This year is so complex that even the engineers don't understand everything," he said. "That makes it even harder for Seb to tune the car to his needs.

"But Sebastian is a perfectionist. He will tinker with it until he gets it right."

From GMM

Niki Lauda hopes Mercedes' rivals do not make it too easy for the German marque in 2014.

So far this year, the dominant Brackley based team has easily won the opening four grands prix on the trot, having aced the all-new V6 turbo rules.

It evokes memories of Ferrari in 2004, when the Italian team won 15 of the 18 races, or 1988, when McLaren won every race but one.

However, a full season of victory clean-sweeps would be a new situation for F1, and Mercedes team chairman Lauda is not sure he would like to see it.

"We do not want to win all the races," he told the Swiss newspaper Blick. "It definitely wouldn't be good for formula one."

But Lauda acknowledged that he is proud of Mercedes' dominance so far in 2014.

"What we are going through now is the harvest of many months of work, particularly in the area of the turbo engine," he said.

"But we do not think the current situation is normal. Our opponents will certainly be getting stronger."

Here is our third feature to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragic passing of Brazilian Formula 1 champion, Ayrton Senna.

Auto123.com spoke with Steve Hallam, who worked alongside Senna for several years. Now the General Manager of TEKNO Autosports in Australia, Hallam spent 27 years in F1, including 18 at McLaren as head of race operations.

Steve Hallam with Ayrton Senna (Photo: Steve Hallam's personal archives)

“I worked as a track engineer for Ayrton Senna from the beginning of 1985 until the end of 1987 at Lotus, and then from 1991 to 1993 at McLaren,” Steve Hallam told us.

“We could see him evolve as a race-car driver. He kept looking for what he needed to do to become a complete racer,” Hallam continued.

“He wanted to have an excellent knowledge of his car. He knew he was not an engineer, but he wanted to understand how things worked to be able to communicate more efficiently with the engineers.”

“Before we used data acquisition systems, he could easily recall all the various numbers and figures from the gauges. We then installed a wheel sensor that provided us with the speed of the car. Ayrton was able to tell us information such as: ‘I gained one mile per hour at the apex of this corner.' He had the remarkable ability to work out what he needed to do to help us,” Hallam continued.

Steve Hallam with Ayrton Senna (Photo: Steve Hallam's personal archives)

The Lotus team then implemented one of the first data systems in the car.

“Most drivers found it pretty intrusive, but Ayrton immediately recognised it was good for him. The system helped us quantify the areas where we could improve the car. He looked at the data on the screen with us and he was able to pinpoint specific things the car was doing,” Hallam told Auto123.com.

Ayrton Senna's attitude changed at the beginning of 1987 when he was about to race the yellow Lotus-Renault Camel car.

“Ayrton had previously proved he was the quickest driver around. He'd set 15 poles and four wins in the previous 32 Grands Prix with us. However, he stared the 1987 season differently. He was more mature; he had a new attitude. It's like if he'd said: ‘Now, I am ready to win the title.' He would still put the car on pole, but he now knew he could not win all the races. His new goal was to finish the race at the best position possible. That was a major difference,” Hallam explained.

Steve Hallam, McLaren F1 Team (Photo: WRI2)

However, Lotus -- now running on a limited budget -- knew it could not keep Senna forever. And Steve Hallam moved to McLaren.

“Ron Dennis of McLaren saw that difference in Ayrton's attitude. He hired him for 1988 and he immediately won the title that year despite a massive challenge from his teammate, Alain Prost. Ayrton had become extremely tough, mentally. He was able to overcome the obstacles and fight back. His 1991 championship against Nigel Mansell is a classic example of his absolute winning determination,” Hallam recalled.

That year, Ayrton Senna scored points in 14 of the season's 16 races, including six wins. Meanwhile, his archrival Nigel Mansell scored points in just 10 races, including five victories.

“The sweetest moment came with his maiden F1 victory at Estoril in 1985. He clearly was the master of the elements that day in the downpour. He made it look so easy in front of the stars. The other drivers could not compete with him at this level. Despite this, he remained very modest about his brilliant performance. Donington, 1993, was also very impressive, but Estoril remains the best moment for me,” Steve Hallam concluded.

Steve Hallam and the Lotus team celebrating Ayrton Senna's first victory in Portugal. (Photo: Steve Hallam's personal archives)

Veteran French racer Franck Montagny will make his return to the Verizon IndyCar Series behind the wheel of Andretti Autosport's No. 26 Honda-powered Dallara in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10.

Montagny, who tested last month on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course, is scheduled to participate in the Open Test on the 2.46-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit April 30.

The former Formula 1 driver made his American open-wheel debut in the April 2008 Champ Car finale at Long Beach, finishing second to Will Power.

He competed for AFS/Andretti Autosport in August 2009 at Sonoma Raceway (started eighth and finished 20th).

Practice for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis kicks off at 10 a.m. May 8, with the three rounds of qualifications starting at 2 p.m. May 9. The race is scheduled for May 10 (3:30 p.m.).

From press release

Dollar General will serve as primary sponsor for the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry driven by 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve in the Indy 500, May 25.

This will mark Villeneuve's third start in the prestigious race. He's returning to the Indy 500 after a 19-year absence.

Jacques Villeneuve already ran with Dollar General as a sponsor in NASCAR in 2009. (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

"I have so many wonderful memories of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway throughout my career, including my last appearance at the track in the Brickyard 400 when I also was sponsored by Dollar General," Villeneuve said.

"It's been 19 years since I ran this race, but returning with a team like Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and a household-name sponsor like Dollar General is going to give me a fantastic opportunity to perform at a high level."

Practice for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 begins Sunday, May 11, with pole qualifying Sunday, May 18.

From GMM

On the eve of a trial that could send Bernie Ecclestone to jail, Formula 1 is having to look into its future.

If convicted of bribery in Munich, the F1 chief executive could even be jailed.

But if found guilty and not jailed, he would surely nonetheless fall foul of the sort of strict corporate compliance rules that groups like Mercedes parent Daimler adhere to.

"We hold ourselves to that (code of conduct) also," Mercedes' motor racing chief Toto Wolff said on Wednesday.

For the moment, Ecclestone is presumed innocent. But his predicament - with judges in two countries having already found he paid a bribe - is forcing F1 to look into its future.

"Of course we are thinking about the future of formula one," Austrian Wolff told the business newspaper Handelsblatt. "We have to.

"After Ecclestone there would be, I suspect, a management team (to run the sport)," he explained.

"It would be a normal management board, as per any other large company," Wolff added.

However, it has been rumoured that some of F1's most powerful participants - like Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - might also push to take over the sport themselves.

Wolff insists: "Right now that is not on the agenda."

“Made in China” is a way of life for us North Americans, be it tagged in clothing or stamped on our favourite smart phone.

Although this is a widely accept fact, for some reason, we think that a car “made in China” (or sold uniquely in China) could never meet our “first world” standards. There may be some truth behind that where safety and overall quality are concerned; however, where design and fit-and-finish come into play, the Chinese are learning real fast.

Some of these cars would look downright at home in the average driveway, and others on display here would fit nicely in my garage...

Here are some of these impressive looking cars we'd like to see in Canada from the 2014 Beijing Auto Show. On some cases here, we are referring world premiere reveals that we hope will make it to our shores.

HTP Motorsport drivers Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Götz captured victory in the first Main Race of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series in Nogaro, France, April 21.

With their Mercedes AMG SLS they crossed the finishing line of the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro with less than two seconds advantage over the No. 3 G-Drive Racing Audi driven by local favourites Stéphane Ortelli and Grégory Guilvert.

Another Audi pairing, Mateusz Lisowski and Vincent Abril in the No. 4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 LMS ultra, claimed the third podium position during the final laps of the race, also winning the Silver Cup category.

Alex Zanardi, BMW (Photo gallery by Jean-Claude Loustau)

Sunny conditions greeted the drivers on the grid for the first main race of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series.

Maximilian Buhk, in the No. 84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes took the lead, and from lap four the German driver was able to edge away from the chasing pack.

By the time Gregory Guilvert in the No. 3 G-Drive Racing Audi managed to overtake the Brazilian BMW, the HTP Motorsport Mercedes already had a lead of nine seconds.

A fabulously quick pitstop by the G-Drive Racing mechanics reduced the gap to only four seconds, with Stéphane Ortelli getting closer and closer to leader Maximilian Götz every lap.

The German had the race under control however, and after 41 laps of the 3.636 km track he crossed the line to take the win in the first Main Race of the season.

Former Formula 1 and IndyCar series' driver, Alex Zanardi finished 13th in his ROAL Motorsport BMW Z4 fitted with hand controls.

Dodge is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2014, and has released a video explaining how the company learned a lot in 100 years. The latest additions to Dodge's lineup are prime examples, such as the freshly redesigned 2015 Challenger.

Officials of the Verizon IndyCar series have put Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves on probation.

The officials claim that the popular Brazilian has violated the series' social media policy.

The outspoken driver was penalized for a tweet sent from his official account after the Long Beach IndyCar race.

In his message, Castroneves criticized race control for not penalizing drivers during the race. His tweet included an image of IndyCar's official logo with a "thumbs down" symbol photo-shopped in the center.

The controversial tweet was deleted not long after it appeared.

The three-time Indy 500 winner later wrote that his sister had sent the missive from his account without his permission.

"I apologize and the steward were correct with the call made," Castroneves wrote.

Official Twitter page of Helio Castroneves.

New York City; where walking down the street dressed as a normal person will make you feel severely underdressed most of the time, is usually host to some fantastic reveals befitting the city's high-fashion nature. For 2014, it didn't hold true, unfortunately, as mediocrity invaded the Jacob Javits Center for two full press days of boring reveals.

While there is definitely plenty to look at, and even some very interesting future product (if you are into midsize bland mobiles and minivans), there is an equal number of easily avoided mishaps and other exhibits that give you a certain metallic taste at the back of your throat.

Ford Focus Refresh
What do you get when you attach the grille from the much-lauded Ford Fusion to the front of a Focus? This. And it's boring. Ford has been slowly taking all the visual excitement out of the Focus (my favourite is the previous generation Euro-only version) and turning it into a rolling paper bag of anonymity. You'd think the nose job, since the Fusion is such a looker, would do the Focus wonders. But it doesn't. It's now the design equivalent of oatmeal. In a beige bowl. On a Formica countertop.

Photo: Mark Stevenson

Continue reading 2014 New York International Auto Show Top Misses