AutoWeek Daily Drive — Monday, April 19, 2010

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTOSHOWS   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   MARKETPLACE Monday, April 19, 2010                  Porsche's 918 Spyder concept hybrid combines a 3.6-liter V8 and three electric motors.... Porsche 918 Spyder: The rebirth of the supercar Lots of concept cars are like those gratuitous flings you had back in college: loads of initial excitement that rarely leads anywhere particularly meaningful. And when you meet again, you wonder what you ever saw in them. The Porsche 918 Spyder, however, is different. Conceived as a successor to the company's exalted Carrera GT, the new two-seater points the way to an advanced performance...   Four-door version of Fiat 500 coming to North America Fiat is bringing a four-door version of the 500 small car to North America, three company sources say. The vehicle will appear in Europe at the end of 2011. Timing for the United States is still uncertain. The Chrysler Group has not decided how many of its dealerships will sell Fiats. Chrysler...   2010 Scion tC, an AW Drivers Log ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR CHERYL L. BLAHNIK: When I first saw that I was in the tC, I was down with that. We had a long termer some time ago and I had no problems with the car and even recommended it to a friend who eventually bought one. But as I was walking around the parking lot looking for...   Toyota will pay NHTSA fine, adds to recalls Toyota has stayed at the top of the news in the last few days. The Japanese automaker agreed to pay the record $16.4 million fine the U.S. Transportation Department levied against it, even as it scrambled to fix the Lexus GX 460 that Consumer Reports said was unsafe to drive. Toyota also...   Visiting Leon in 'Jaundiced Eye' Please bear with this automotive navel-gazing. Occasionally something is written or photographed--not always but sometimes--that makes us proud of what we do. The Ferrari Phenomenon is one such book. The quadruple-espresso-table-size book is full of passion from Modena, Italy. That its...   One-on-one with Ron Dennis, McLaren's boss Here are a few stats to wrap your brain around: Since 1966, the year McLaren got into Formula One, 100 Grand Prix teams have come and gone--100! Only Ferrari and McLaren remain. McLaren has won 25 percent of the F1 races it has entered and has been on the podium a whopping 53 percent of the time.... You May Have Missed...   Hinchcliffe bags first Indy Lights win at Long Beach Restarts allowed James Hinchcliffe to record his first Firestone Indy Lights win on Sunday, on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit.Hinchcliffe held off Californian Charlie Kimball by 0.837-second. J.K. Vernay, who won the first two races of the season, finished third and Sebastian...   Button: Chinese Grand Prix his best victory so far Jenson Button says his brilliant win in the Chinese Grand Prix was the best of his F1 career so far.The world champion led teammate Lewis Hamilton across the line at the end of a dramatic wet/dry race which Button judged to perfection.“For me it is my best victory,” Button said....   Hamilton says Button had the best strategy Lewis Hamilton praised his teammate Jenson Button for winning in China and admitted that a bad tire call in the early laps cost him the race.Hamilton was one of many drivers to switch to intermediates--only for the track to dry-- leaving Button and others who had not stopped at the head of the... CLICK HERE TO UNSUBSCRIBE from the AutoWeek Daily Drive E-mail or to sign up for other AutoWeek e-mail products. IMPORTANT: Please add AutoWeek.com to your E-mail Address Book to ensure you will continue to receive our newsletters. Please DO NOT reply to this e-mail. You will not receive a reply if you use this e-mail address. Crain Communications, 1155 Gratiot Ave. Detroit, MI 48207.