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
The usual explanation sounds perfectly logical. When a car slows down, its weight moves toward the front. The front tires carry more load, so the front brakes provide more of the stopping force. That
Starting a modern car requires so little effort that the action barely registers. Turn a key, press a button or let the vehicle recognize that its driver has climbed aboard. A second later, the engine
One tire wanders across the painted line and the previously quiet cabin erupts with a harsh mechanical growl. The steering wheel trembles, the seat vibrates and, for half a second, it feels as if some
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.
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
A driver can move between unfamiliar modern cars and still understand the transmission selector within seconds. Park sits at one end, followed by Reverse, Neutral and Drive. Lower ranges, manual modes
A concrete barrier beside a highway looks like one of the least forgiving objects a car could encounter. It is heavy, rigid and often positioned only a few feet from traffic moving at serious speed.
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