Vintage Mr. Goodwrench Rectangle Patch on 2040-parts.com

McLaren F1: the inside story by Peter Stevens and Gordon Murray

For a kid who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s with those cliché supercar posters on my wall, the chance to chat to Gordon Murray and Peter Stevens for the September 2014 issue of CAR magazine was both terrifying and incredibly exciting. In the name of completeness I’ll mention that Murray was the genius behind the McLaren F1, designer Stevens a key player, but most of you won’t need to be reminded. You’ll know that Murray and Stevens, along with a small but brilliant team, created a supercar that beat Lamborghini and Ferrari and everyone else in the world.

Watch Tesla Model S testing new titanium armor

In a missive signed by Elon Musk himself, Tesla announced it would be adding titanium plates and aluminum deflectors to all new Model S sedans and offering free retrofits for the 20,000 or so existing EVs. The company earlier offered an over-the-air software update to raise the ground clearance of the Model S so the car would be more likely to clear dangerous road debris. The actions were in response to well-publicized fires in the electric luxury sedans.

Volkswagen designer gets 2011 lifetime achievement award

Volkswagen Group designer Walter de'Silva was chosen for this year's Lifetime Design Achievement Award at EyesOn Design, which ran over Father's Day weekend in the Detroit area. About 260 invitation-only vehicles were in attendance at Sunday's car show on the grounds of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. They were chosen based on this year's theme of "Designing for the Future." Only car designers who have previously won the Lifetime Design Achievement Award were allowed to vote on a winner for 2011.