Iran

Seizures of oil tankers and other hostile Iranian measures in the Strait of Hormuz are already raising insurance rates for shipping companies and could eventually reduce tanker traffic in the vital waterway, with a spike in global oil prices a serious risk even without war, energy and maritime experts say. On Friday, Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the narrow passageway that carries one-fifth of the world's crude exports and a second Liberian-flagged ship was briefly detained. "If

Analysts are predicting that this week's historic deal with Iran will cause gas prices to drop dramatically in the coming months.

RM Auctions will sell the 1960 Plymouth XNR next month in Monterey, Calif. around the festivities of the annual Concourse d'Elegance, perhaps adding another adventure for the storied car with a fascinating history. The concept car penned by legendary Chrysler designer Virgil Exner was meant to take on the likes of the Chevrolet Corvette. It's high performance six-cylinder engine could create 250 horsepower and had a top speed of 150 mph.

What a coincidence. Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently removed government subsidies on gasoline, causing prices to quadruple overnight. This week, Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), the region's largest automaker, has announced its future models will incorporate micro hybrid (ie. start/stop) and mild hybrid technology. In fact, the first 200 units of their Samand El Microhybrid X are planned to be released onto the market later this month.

Whilst perusing the internetz for the latest and greatest green-go-gadgets, we happened across a somewhat mysterious video that we think might offer our readers something in the way of both amusement and a free physics lesson. The clip features several different three-wheel electric vehicles careening about a makeshift course piloted by guys with remarkably dubious driving ability, possibly for the benefit of an engineering school competi

So, Iran looks to be one of the Next Big Things for automakers in their chase to find lower cost manufacturing, but it's clear that the country's auto industry has much bigger aspirations than serving as China's slave labor. Iran already imports "knockdown kits" from Asia, but in an attempt to fully mature its auto industry, the country continues to work towards the manufacture of