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French-Canadian Gilles Villeneuve was the most spectacular comet to blaze across Formula 1 in the modern era. Didier Pironi was a French rocket groomed for stardom by the Elf fuel company. As teammates at Ferrari in 1982, their careers collided with fatal results.

As Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz were developing their early auto designs in the late nineteenth century, engineers struggled to build roads that could accommodate the carriages and cars of a mobile society. The existing network of crude dirt and stone paths was notorious for snapping axles and swallowing cars in thick mud. In America, engineers explored bricks, wood planks, and metal rails before settling on pavement.

The Corvette is steeped in heritage. The car's iconic status is so pervasive in Americana, racing, and automotive culture that the Corvette almost seems to have more history than Chevrolet itself. For 2010, Chevrolet is reaching into the Corvette's rich past to introduce a new trim level under the Grand Sport moniker. The Grand Sport name traces back to 1962 when chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov began developing a Corvette to beat Carroll Shelby's Cobras on the racetrack. That program was halted after just a handful of cars were built, but in 1996, Chevrolet turned out 1000 Grand Sport Corvettes. The limited-edition coupes and convertibles were built to commemorate the end of fourth-generation Corvette production with 330-horsepower V-8 engines, black ZR-1 wheels, and a unique paint scheme.

In terms of dollars, the aforementioned differences currently account for $3,700-5,000 in added cost compared to components that can be used on an EBDI engine.

A rough-edged, self-made Briton with a sizable chip on his shoulder, Nigel Mansell never quite fit in with the F1 elite, even though his record - thirty-one grand prix victories, a driver's championship, and an Indy car championship - certainly merited his inclusion. Instead, Mansell forced his way into the consciousness of his competitors with fearless tactics on the track and, some say, demanding, divalike behavior off it. Excerpts from Mansell's most memorable rivalries: