14" Msa M26 Vibe Dark Tint & 28" Maxxis Bighorn 2.0 Wheel And Tire Package on 2040-parts.com

Tesla pays off its government loans

Tesla paid off the last of its $465 million government loans May 22, nine years ahead of schedule, thus outperforming most U.S. college graduates and the vast majority of American homeowners. Tesla used funds from a stock offering to finish the loan with a whopping bank transfer of $451.8 million Wednesday, pointing out that it was “…the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.” Apparently no one at Tesla was even born when Lee Iacocca paid off Chrysler's $1.2-billion government bailout ahead of schedule back in 1983.

Lotus Exige S Roadster Official: Price (£52,800) and Specs

It’s the first properly good news from Lotus for a while, and looks a promising offering at the same price (£52,800) as the tin top Exige S and, remarkably for a convertible, actually weighing less than the hard top – although by only 10kg. The Exige S Roadster gets the same 3.5 litre V6 as the coupe which means 345bhp, 295lb/ft of torque and a 0-60mph of a very respectable 3.8 seconds, but it does lose the coupe’s rear wing and front splitter for better airflow. The folding roof on the Roadster is a manual affair, but Lotus say fresh air motoring is just ‘Two clicks and a roll away’, so the manual roof is probably the best – and lightest – option.

Off the line: Fun cars and social responsibility Autoweek op-ed stands the test of time

It's been almost 21 years to the day that Autoweek printed Matt DeLorenzo's column “Off the Line: There's room for fast, fun cars in diet of social responsibility.” And in those two decades plus, not much has changed except the vehicles themselves. For example, sports cars like the Bugatti Veyron and Pagani Huayra have astronomically high performance and safety levels; similarly, sport-utility vehicles that haul entire families (and most of their earthly possessions) achieve fuel economy similar to that of 1970s midsize sedans. To read all of DeLorenzo's thoughts and his case for automobiles, click the links to download the article.