03 04 05 06 Lincoln Ls V8 Front Crossmember Left Driver Side Brace Oem 17985 on 2040-parts.com

Smart Forspeed concept signals new design direction

Smart will unveil a new concept at the forthcoming Geneva motor show that signals a new design direction, hints at future product and confirms parent company Daimler's renewed commitment to the brand. Car Design News was granted early access to the concept, baptized Forspeed, at a secret photography studio in Stuttgart last week and heard the head of advanced design, Steffen Kohl, explain how the two-seat, electric-powered vehicle prefaces design themes in both the next Fortwo and the revived Forfour, which will be launched in 2014. "The fullness of this concept's exterior surfaces is important and will be reflected in future production models," said Kohl, "Smart will still be short, spacey, agile, and with wheels at the corners of the car, but with an added sporty and emotional design and without losing all the brand's iconic elements like its ‘plastic fantastic' aspect and the safe and hi-tech modular tridion shell assembled with all these changeable body parts.

GM blocks Saab sale to China

GM block Saab. No Saab 9-5 or 9-4X for the Chinese Last week we had the first reaction from GM to the announcement that Saab was to be sold to China’s Youngman and Pang Da. And it wasn’t positive.

One Lap of the Web: Remembering Ayrton Senna

-- Hard to believe it's been 20 years since the passing of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, but one Jalopnik reader remembers the bloody weekend in San Marino vividly. A dream vacation in Europe cumulating in the ill-fated Grand Prix: Alan Dahl saw Senna's wrecked car coming into the pits, but like the rest of the crowd, he wouldn't find out Senna's fate until he left the track. "For years afterwards I felt guilty that, not knowing that the tragedy had happened," he said, "that I had fun at the race." -- The excellent 8W, a site of racing driver stories, recounts the last 96 hours of Senna's life.