07-13 Mercedes W221 S63 S65 S600 S550 Driver Front Door Speaker #a2218205902 on 2040-parts.com

Help fund Driving Dreams – a documentary film dedicated to the masters of Italian car design

Italian car designs of the 1950s, 60s and 70s are a fascination and inspiration to many – an era where some of the most skilled designers, craftsmen and engineers collaborated to reach what many believe a zenith. But while we may know everything there is about the cars of this period, the men who created them remain enigmatic largely due to their collective modesty. Daniel Tomičić and Gianluca Migliarotti are hoping to change this however, by creating a documentary film that tracks down the key players from the time.

Kia launches Cadenza as replacement for Amanti sedan, hits North America in 2011

Kia is replacing its Amanti large sedan with a new model called the Cadenza, which was unveiled today in South Korea. It goes on sale there this year and in North America in 2011. The five-seat Cadenza is shorter than the Amanti but has a longer wheelbase delivering more interior space, Kia said in a release.

Video: Jaguar's Julian Thomson on the importance of design values

Jaguar's Head of Advanced Design, Julian Thomson, appeared at this month's PSFK Conference in London giving a talk on design values. Thomson's talk, ‘Concepting Dreams, Making Reality Happen', dealt with questions of creating a design story as well as how Jaguar uses the value of its heritage while keeping things original and new. Thomson – the man behind the 2010 C-X75 and the recently revealed F-Type – said, "You can't get a good design story if you don't look at your heritage, where you came from, where your values came from." He went on to discuss the ‘sad years of Jaguar', from around 1968 to 2004 where Jaguar was too timid to develop and "essentially made the same-looking car." He put this down to a reluctance on Jaguar's part to move too far away from its successful models and, quite interestingly, because "not only did we start doing market research, we started asking Americans what they wanted." Watch the full video on the left.