automotive technology

Usually, the drag race comes after the new muscle cars hit the road, not while they're still on the drawing board. But in a tech presentation in Detroit this week, Chrysler showed off a computer-aided modeling system it developed in-house that it says let the company bring its Challenger from concept to market in just 21 months, quicker than Chevrolet did its similarly muscular Camaro.

Auto racing wonks know Gordon Murray as a designer of winning Formula One cars, who also happened to devise one of the fastest sports cars of the past 20 years -- the McLaren F1. But as we've mentioned, Murray's been spending most of his time lately on slower pursuits; in particular, a fuel-efficient city car. New details on that car, named T.25, came to light today, as Gordon Murray Design revealed a striking new seating layout.

Picture this: You're motoring down the highway, following route guidance on the navigation screen, when the guy in the passenger seat decides he wants to watch Raising Arizona on DVD. Mercedes-Benz and Bosch jointly devised a novel gizmo can satisfy both viewing requests, without a sword and the smarts of Solomon. It's a dual-view LCD monitor system called, elegantly enough, Splitview.