Car

When the Bloodhound SSC team makes its attempt to break the land speed record, the car will be traveling at 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h), but the wheels will be spinning a lot faster. To protect both the car and the driver, some high-tech answers were needed.

We may all be excited about Google's autonomous car hitting the roads of California this year, but that's small-fry to British-based auto-firm Delphi. Its autonomous car is set to travel 3,500 miles (5,600 km) across the US. It will set off near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on March 22.

Google has been developing autonomous car technology since 2010. Now, it has unveiled the first complete prototype of its self-driving car. The company expects the vehicle to be hitting the streets of California some time in 2015.

The Chinese calendar may see 2014 as the Year of the Horse, but Rolls-Royce sees it as the Year of the Bespoke Car. To celebrate, the car maker presented its Suhail Collection; its first bespoke collection to cover all current Rolls-Royce models.

The problem with spending a day driving £300,000+ worth of cars is that driving home in your own worn out old banger makes a measured article tricky to write. Such is my issue having spent last Friday with three of Mercedes' top-end AMGs. So apologies in advance for any gushing.

The Fraunhofer Institute's Afkar project is creating an autonomous driving system for electric cars that can find and park in empty parking spaces, move itself in and out of charging stations, or otherwise travel short distances to a given target without any human oversight.

The acceleration of 3D printing means that even cars can be now printed. The Local Motors Strati 3D car was printed live at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014 last week. The printing process took just 44 hours.

McLaren Automotive has announced that it will make available 50 bespoke examples of its exotic 650S sports car after positive reaction to its MSO 650S coupe concept. Available in both coupe and spider versions, the MSO 650S will debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year.

Gizmag spends two weeks with one of the standout driver's cars of 2014 - Ford's 197-horsepower Fiesta ST. Turbocharged and lowered, the ST takes a no-nonsense approach to hard-driving hot hatch fun, and delivers a uniquely involving driving experience for a surprisingly affordable price tag.

The Mini Cooper has gotten a little less mini with BMW rolling out its first 5-door version of the premium compact. The new 5-door has two proper rear doors, thanks to extending the wheelbase by 72 mm (2.8 in) to 2,567 mm (101 in).

The first ever 3D Printed Car Design Challenge has been run and won with Strati, a design by Michele Anoé of Italy, chosen from a field of over 200 entries submitted by contestants from more than 30 countries.

BMW's luxury high-performance saloon, the M5, celebrates its 30th birthday this year. In honor of this, it a special "30 years of the M5" edition of the car as been created. Not only is it the most powerful M5 ever produced, but it is the most powerful production car in the history of BMW.