The modern BMW we know today may not have been possible without the likes of the Neue Klasse sedans, but even those models wouldn't have come about were it not for cars like the 303 and the 315/1–and even the motorcycles built following the end of the First World War that kept BMW alive.

Get an up-close look at some of the earliest cars and motorcycles built by the iconic German car maker with the BMW CCA's newest exhibit, Genesis: BMW from the Beginning, Presented by the Werk Shop. This rare collection spans from BMW's first foray into motorcycles in 1917, all the way up to the introduction of the Neue Klasse sedans in 1961.

Now that the Nissan Proto Z—the prototype for the next generation Z-car—has been revealed, let's all take a minute to remember that the 240Z not only looked good as a road race car, but it also looked pretty good in rally trim.

So is anyone else hoping the new Z gets the chance to take on a few rally stages?

The continuously variable transmission has become increasingly popular with a number of today's car manufacturers, but the CVT is not a recent development.

In fact, one of the first known examples of a CVT transmission is Dutch car maker DAF's "Variomatic" transmission from the late '50s. Although simple by today's standards, watching one function is still pretty entertaining.

Few cars today can claim a (reliable) redline of over 8000 rpm, let alone a car from the late '60s. But that is exactly what the Honda S800 is capable of.

Thanks to its motorcycle-based powerplant, the little sports car is said to be able to rev all the way up to 10,000 rpm in certain racing trims. Here's a good example of what that sounds like.

Back in the day, slot car racing required a bit of work. Almost all of the components were made from scratch and by hand, from the centrifugal clutch to the very tires the car ran on—no running to the hobby shop if something breaks.

The Chevrolet Corvair Monza Sypder may often be considered the first turbocharged production car, but there was another that went on sale around the same time that could also potentially claim that title: the Oldsmobile Jetfire.

Besides being, essentially, a pillarless hardtop version of the Cutlass, the Jetfire was powered by a turbocharged version of Oldsmobile's 215-cubic-inch V8 engine. In this configuration, the Jetfire was reported to be capable of 215 horsepower and 330 lb.-ft. of torque that gave the car a zero-to-60 time of roughly 9 seconds.

The story goes that back in the '50s, the gas was cheap and the V8s were plentiful, so what better way to let the masses know that the end of the world was coming than with an air raid siren powered by a Chrysler V8?

A quick internet search says that the sirens had an output of nearly 140 dB at 100 feet. To put that into perspective, that's on par with a jet engine at full throttle and is uncomfortably close to the 150 dB it takes to rupture your eardrums (remember, kids, wear your hearing protection).

On paper, both the Shelby Mustang GT350 and the Sunbeam Tiger are somewhat similar in their use of Ford V8 power, rear-wheel drive and a sprinkling of love from Carroll Shelby himself. However, considering that one is an iconic pony car and the other is a V8-powered British roadster, the similarities seem to end there.

The big question, then, is how these Shelby creations compare today. We drove them back-to-back to find out. Presented by CRC Industries.

In recent years, various individuals, companies and even entire governments have been exploring alternative fuels as a way to break our dependency on oil.

One man in the early 1970s, however, may have been well ahead of the curve. His alternative fuel of choice? Steam.

Edward Pritcher, an Australian mechanical engineer, replaced the internal combustion engine in a Ford Falcon with a proprietary steam engine of his design. The result? A car that not only produced virtually no harmful emissions, but also a car that could run on just about any type of fuel.

Daytona Beach may be best known as the home of the iconic Daytona International Speedway (as well as the headquarters of Classic Motorsports and Grassroots Motorsports), but before World War II, it was often used as a place to set land-speed records.

Back then, the areas in and around Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach were relatively uninhabited and, depending on the tide, provided wide beaches with a surface flat enough for going over 200 mph.