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A tribute to Ermanno Cressoni

Last week the car design community suffered a great loss. Ermanno Cressoni or 'Arch' as many of his designers affectionately referred to him, passed away on Thursday 30th June in Milan after battling with cancer for 13 months.'Arch' was a reference in car design and his contribution to our profession was much more important than stated in the press. As Alfa Romeo Centro Stile Director he directed the Alfetta berlina, the famous chrome GTV grille from the early seventies is attributed to him, as is the Giuglietta sedan of the late seventies, the Alfa 33, the 75, and many of the racing Alfas we adore from the late 60s and early 70s.

Could Michelin’s Active Wheel truly transform the car?

Cars today have evolved and been refined to an extraordinary degree, but carmakers – and car designers – are still always looking for ‘the next big thing'. Yet despite a myriad of recent technical innovations, ask the man on the street what is the problem with cars of today, and he'll likely reply along the lines of "they all look the same". Mass production processes, packaging requirements and safety and regulatory constraints are just a few of the reasons why it is hard to make a car that looks truly different.

UK Honda Civic Type R for Japan

Honda UK is to export the Civic Type R to Japan to be sold as the Honda Civic Type R Euro Currently, the only Civic Type R sold in Japan is the saloon version, so the addition of the 3-door will add to the range. But the problem is that the current Civic Type R is a bit of a let-down. It’s gone from being the ‘Thinking Man’s’ hot hatch to something of an also-ran.