04 05 Chevrolet Impala Left Taillight on 2040-parts.com

IDSA's 3D-printed car design contest gets underway

Aspiring designers have the chance to see their 3D-printed car designs launched down a miniature model of a ski jump and crash in the Launch Day 2013 competition due to take place at the 2013 IDSA conference, which runs from 21-24 August. Up to five designs can be entered for free until 12 August in the competition, organized by The Industrial Designers Society of America. All submissions will then be judged for both aesthetics and for "using unique attributes of 3D printing" which will whittle them down to just 10 designs that will be printed before the launch.

Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 30 January 2014 12:50 Meet the Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme – the most hard-core hot hatch ever to wear the Astra badge. Inspired by the Astra Cup racing car, it’s essentially an Astra with ‘Speciale’ or ‘GT3’ treatment applied to it, in the vein of Ferrari and Porsche’s fire-breathing specials. Expect less weight, less refinement – and a lot more on-track performance.

Ford Fiesta “Centura” – 100 years of Ford UK

Ford Fiesta Centura Ford isn’t a British company – even if many of us think of Ford as a patriotic buy – although they’ve been in the UK for 100 years. And to celebrate that landmark they’ve revealed the Ford Fiesta Centura, a limited edition of just 1,000 cars. Based on the Fiesta 1.25 Zetec, the Fiesta Centura gets £600 worth of extras – metallic paint (Panther Black only), chrome mirrors, 16″ alloys, auto lights and wipers, rear parking sensors, reversing camera and LED running lights – and costs £13,395 for the three-door and £13,995 for the five door.