Autoweek Daily Drive — Wednesday, May 30, 2012

HOME   |   CAR NEWS   |   CAR REVIEWS   |   RACING   |   AUTO SHOWS   |   VIDEOS   |   COLLECTOR   |   SUBSCRIBE Wednesday, May 30, 2012                  Quite a shape, eh? Even in six-cylinder trim it performs pretty well for a two-ton Teuton.... BMW 640i Gran Coupe: Drive review What is it? Cynics would say that the 640i Gran Coupe is a BMW CLS, a Bavarian copy of the Mercedes-Benz CLS four-door coupe introduced way back in 2005 (not to be confused with the two-door 1973 BMW CSL coupe). The...   2013 Ford Taurus SHO guns it with a new Performance package For 2013, Ford not only freshened the Taurus with a new grille, fascia and reworked rear end—including updated LED taillights (“Big Brothers,...   Bring the family out to the 2012 Goodguys Nashville Nationals The hot-rodder's mascot, Rat Fink, was everywhere—on T-shirts, shift levers and hoods—in place of more prosaic ornaments. But today, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth's bloodshot, bug-eyed antihero is more of a fashion accessory than the symbol of an iconoclastic lifestyle it once was....   Is Danica Patrick the face of NASCAR? Brad Keselowski did a double take at the question. It seemed almost as if the 28-year-old Sprint Cup star wasn't exactly sure he'd heard right. He repeated the question, as if to convince himself he'd heard it right. “Is Danica becoming the face of NASCAR?” he said quietly, staring off...   Sauber F1 team gives fans the ultimate inside look at a Formula One car in video Sauber F1 team chief designer Matt Morris gives fans the ultimate inside look at a Formula One car. Driver Sergio Pérez is also on hand in the video to demonstrate the driver's seating position. “Formula One is all about cutting-edge...   Ex-F1 designer Murray claims to have slashed small-car production costs Ex-Formula One designer Gordon Murray says he's devised a way to build small cars profitably again. The British-based engineer is touting a new production system that he claims can make a city car in two primary steps instead ... You May Have Missed...   Leake Auction to feature 10 Shelby originals The Leake Auction Co. will hold its 40th-annual Tulsa collector-car auction on June 8-10 in Tulsa's QuikTrip Center. This year's event will feature no fewer than 10 authentic Shelby cars.“Like everyone in the automotive industry, we were saddened by the death of Mr. Shelby,” said...   Lotus Group CEO Dany Bahar suspended, facing investigation Lotus Group chief executive officer Dany Bahar has been suspended and is facing an investigation following an undisclosed conduct complaint. While there is no official word on the nature of the complaint against Bahar, the The Daily Telegraph reports that it might be related to expenses claimed by...   Aston Martin AM310 makes a quiet debut at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este The Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este is more than a celebration of classic automotive design. It's also a great opportunity to view cutting-edge concept vehicles. This year's event saw the debut of the BMW Zagato coupe concept, and the Alfa Romeo 4C concept took home the concours' coveted...   Alex Mair, retired head of GM technical staff, Pontiac and GMC, dies Alex Mair, former group executive in charge of General Motors' technical staffs and general manager of the automaker's Pontiac and GMC divisions, died Sunday in Orange City, Fla. He was 91.Mair was named group executive of GM's technical staffs in November 1978 and remained in that position until...   Renault Alpine A110-50 details released The Renault Alpine A110-50 concept was shown for the first time on Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Alpine was produced by Renault Sport Technologies and is based on the same platform as the Mégane Trophy car. The look is a mix of the DeZir concept designed by Laurens van den Acker—which...   F1 boss Ecclestone says series prepared to add two or three races, increase revenue to teams An expansion from the current maximum of 20 Formula One races each season to “22 or 23” events will be part of the new Concorde Agreement, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed. The current six-year contract between Formula One and the teams--which details the commercial arrangements...   Marco Andretti is latest member of racing family to feel frustration at Indy Given his family's checkered history in the Indianapolis 500, Michael Andretti understands better than anybody why his son, Marco, was so frustrated during Sunday's race.And as a race-car driver, Andretti knows there's only one way for his son to get over a growing sense of frustration at Indy....   BMW teams with Zagato for stylish new coupe: Autoweek TV Also in this episode: Lotus suspends its CEO, Akio Toyoda takes the wheel of a NASCAR race car and Volkswagen gives the CC the R-Line treatment.TRANSCRIPT-- BMW rolls out a new coupe.-- Lotus puts its CEO on ice.-- Volkswagen dresses up the CC.-- And the head of Toyota takes a few laps around...   Tim Mayer named Grand Prix of Baltimore general manager Race promoters Race On LLC and Andretti Sports Marketing announced on Tuesday that Tim Mayer will serve as general manager of the Grand Prix of Baltimore. Mayer, a 20-year veteran of the motorsports industry, has run racing events around the world for Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and 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.