02 03 04 Honda Odyssey Engine 3.5l Vin 1 6th Digit 264164 on 2040-parts.com

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.

LA Design Challenge 2010 announced

This year will see the seventh running of the annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge when the industry circus hits the US west coast in November. All participating studios have been tasked to envision a 1000lb (454kg) 2+2 vehicle that is both comfortable and secure while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the emotional connection and beautiful styling today's consumers demand. For the first time, design studios from outside the US – from both Germany and Japan – will compete for the prize.

College for Creative Studies - GM Autonomy 2020 project

Final year Transportation Design students at Detroit's College for Creative Studies have presented the results of a GM-sponsored project, to design a GM vehicle for the year 2020. The proposals were to be based on the skateboard-shaped chassis of the Autonomy fuel cell concept shown at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show. This was one of several manufacturer-sponsored projects that were presented in the lead-up to the annual CCS Student Exhibition, which opens this Friday May 14.