Converting old gas-powered cars to run on electricity has become easy enough that Minddrive, a Kansas City non-profit, has made such conversions part of an after-school education program for inner-city teen-agers. For this year's project, Minddrive decided to set a higher bar by challenging the students to build a car powered by tweets and Facebook posts.

In the past several years, Minidrive has converted three other vehicles to EV, then taken them on cross-country drives. For most of the students, the lessons start with the basics of how to handle an angle grinder or power drill and move onto more complicated tasks, like improving aerodynamics

In 1928, BMW switched from making airplane engines to cars and Battista "Pinin" Farina set up his own coachbuilding shop in Italy. In the intervening decades, the two companies became pillars of the European auto industry, but never worked together — until now.

Today in Italy, the two revealed the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe, a 12-cylinder tourer that could serve as a luxurious revival of the famous 8-Series name. Yet like the other concepts BMW has revealed in years past at the Concorso d'Eleganza, it will likely never sell a copy to the public.

There's no technological reason BMW couldn't sell something like the Gran Lusso Coupe in showrooms today; the frame, interior and engine all come from the 7-Series, and there are no show-car gadgets that exist only in a designer's mind. In that sense, the Gran Lusso Coupe harkens back to the pre-World War II era, when the wealthy would

It took Hollywood nearly 20 years to make "Thelma and Louise," with endless combinations of actors and directors considered over the years (i.e., George Clooney in Brad Pitt's role). Yet today, the movie ranks as a classic, with Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis and their 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible just so. From the moment it opened, many critics and viewers have wanted a different ending; Ridley Scott even considered changing the script so that one survived, and he shot a final scene with Harvey Keitel sadly surveying the canyon. Here's a version made by fans that wishes for a '66 Thunderbird with super powers:

Aston Martin had found some new success on racetracks around the world thanks to cars like this, the 2013 Vantage GT4 caught by Jason Sha'ul. If you care to share a spectacular image of your own, add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr, or send us a message via Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

The drive by Tesla Motors to sell its cars by bypassing traditional auto dealers has opened a legal and public relations war in several states. In every case, the arguments follow the same script: Tesla says it needs the freedom from tradition to successfully sell electric vehicles, and dealers say the system protects customers from abuse by far-off corporations.

What's been ignored so far is a more basic question of whether having dealers or the factory sell cars makes better business sense, something that can't be tested in the United States, where franchised dealers control the market for new cars. But it can in Germany, where factory-owned dealers exist side-by-side with independent stores — and the results may give Tesla pause.

If you own a garage, chances are it's a closet that just happens to be big enough to hold your car. Maybe you've dressed it up with a TV or couches; maybe it's a true workspace with the tools and grease as proof.

But no garage looks like this one, built by a Los Angeles designer and architect as the centerpiece of a stylish house overlooking the Pacific Ocean — with a Ferrari 512 BBi as its inspiration.

greyloch / Flickr

On the morning of May 23, 1934, a posse of six police officers opened fire on Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's 1934 Ford V8 on a rural country road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, pumping approximately 130 rounds into the car and putting a dramatic end to the notorious couples' multi-state crime spree (the Barrow gang killed nine police officers and several more civilians in a series of robberies). The officers were reportedly deafened from the gunfire for several hours after the ambush. Bonnie and Clyde fared much worse.

1951 Bentley Mark VI Drophead Coupe by Steve Sexton / Flickr

Steve Sexton photographed the Bentley Mark VI Drophead Coupe seen above in front of Tired Iron Works, an automotive restoration shop in Monrovia, Calif. If you care to share a spectacular image of your own, add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr, or send us a message via Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.