Few automotive features can make a parked car look as alive as pop-up headlights. Turn the switch and two neat sections of bodywork rise from the hood, pause with theatrical precision and reveal the l
A new car speaking to its driver no longer feels remarkable. Navigation systems issue directions, safety assistants complain about lane markings and voice controls wait patiently for somebody to remem
There was a time when getting lost required some commitment. A driver would unfold a road map across the steering wheel, locate two towns that appeared to be printed directly on top of one another, th
A dashboard without a radio now looks unfinished. Even the most basic car is expected to provide music, news and something to fill the silence when traffic has stopped moving but the clock has not.
Open the door of certain 1980s or early 1990s cars and a small buckle begins travelling along the roofline. Sit down, close the door and the shoulder belt glides toward the B-pillar, hopefully passi
Park a 1940s Jeep beside a Chevrolet sedan, an early Volkswagen Beetle and a British roadster, then look closely at their headlights. The surrounding bodies could hardly be more different. The glass c
The usual history of the rearview mirror is wonderfully neat. Ray Harroun entered the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 with a mirror attached to his Marmon Wasp. He drove alone while his competitors
For the Polestar 4, the biggest change is surprisingly simple: it finally gets a rear window. The new SUV version trades the coupe’s steeply sloped tail for a more upright design, bringing extra
Why do British buyers love sporty vans so much? Mercedes has another answer. Meet the Vito Sport-X, a UK-only version that gives a practical diesel van the visual treatment of a performance car while
Electric cars have developed a sound of their own. Not the familiar chug of an engine or the rising growl of an exhaust, but a smooth, slightly eerie hum that seems better suited to a spacecraft glidi