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How the Nissan Qashqai reinvented the family car

The 2014 Nissan Qashqai (above) arrived in showrooms this week, but will the second-generation model be as groundbreaking as the first? Inevitably, the all-new Qashqai looks very similar to the outgoing model, but why change a winning formula? The original Qashqai was, arguably, the most successful new family car launch since the original Volkswagen Golf from 1974. And it came out of the blue, because Nissan was perhaps the last company anyone would have expected to come up with such a revolutionary design.

VW Pickup concept (2008): first official photos

By Chris Chilton First Official Pictures 24 September 2008 18:00 He’s designed Alfa Romeos, Audis and even a Lamborghini but now Walter de'Silva has gone all humanitarian and designed a pick-up.  VW’s first small flatbed since the Mk1 Golf-based Caddy will take on trucks like the Toyota Hilux and Mitusbishi L200 when it goes on sale late in 2009. It is, but not for long. This thinly veiled concept, called simply Pickup Concept, has been designed as a search and rescue vehicle for coastguards but essentially this is what badge-conscious UK builders will be driving in 2009. The new Volkswagen corporate face with its monobrow top grille and wide mouth is likely to be carried over mostly unchanged to the cars that will roll off the South African production line, as will the surprisingly stylish interior which features hooded instruments and Audi TT-style air vents. Mechanical details are sketchy but Volkswagen claims that engines will be common-rail diesels which rules out the old-tech 2.5 five pot that powers many of VW’s current commercials.

Drayson Racing set new electric car speed record

Lord Paul Drayson (pictured) celebrating a new electric car land speed record Last month we reported that Lord Paul Drayson’s Drayson Racing were plotting an attack on the world land speed record for an electric car. And they’ve cracked it. In a two-way run at Elvington, Yorkshire, Lord Paul Drayson – Drayson Racing’s CEO and former science minister – was behind the wheel of the Drayson B12 69/EV as it completed two mile long runs in the space of an hour to record an average – and new World Record (for its class) – of 204.185mph.