18" X 9" American Racing Ar676 Redline Ford Mustang Cobra Saleen Gt Wheels Rims on 2040-parts.com

Ford resurrects Vignale name in an attempt to add premiumness to mainstream models

Ford is resurrecting the name of renowned Italian design house Vignale in an attempt to bring its mainstream models up market in Europe. Of course this isn't Ford's first experience of using a defunct carrozzeria for its range-topping models – remember Ghia? The first of these new models will be the Mondeo, which will appear with Vignale badging, lashings of chrome and quilted leather in Frankfurt next week.

Lotus lusts after Lutz?

Lotus seem to be pursuing Bob Lutz The Lotus five year plan calls for the track day cars to make way for much more substantial and upmarket cars to become the force at Lotus; a move to become the Aston Martin East Anglia. Probably the first obvious move in this plan was to grab Dany Bahar from Ferrari last year (and Ferrari designer Donato Coco) and now Lotus are casting their net again to snare some big names to drive them forward. Top of the list is almost-octogenarian Bob Lutz who retired from GM – but certainly not from business – last year.

Aston Martin reveals the 2012 V12 Vantage GT3 race car

Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 It’s been mooted for quite a while, but now it’s confirmed – AM are to replace the DBR9S race car with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. Built on Aston Martin’s now rather ancient V/H architecture modular chassis, the Vantage GT3 also features Aston Martin’s one and only engine – the V12 originally built from a pair of Ford Mondeo engines – which in the GT3 version will produce something in the region of 600bhp and 516lb/ft of torque. What the GT3 also gets – as the photo above clearly demonstrates - are new aerodynamics, which makes the GT3 seem much more aggressive than the V12 Vantage on which it’s based.