1951 '51 Mercury Orange Lead Sled Lowrider Christmas Tree Ornament on 2040-parts.com

Videos: Chris Bangle shares his views on design and the future of car design

Chris Bangle is a man that needs no introduction on these pages. Both revered and castigated, Bangle's work has undoubtedly been influential for a generation of designers. His unconventional practices – employed at a time when design was still largely segregated from other departments during the development process – yielded many avantgarde and contentious designs, but Bangle's fundamental understanding of the design process, creative vision and desire for change can never be cast in doubt. While Bangle shares his views on the future of the car in the video to the right, the video to the left provides an insight into the former BMW design chief's thought processes and gives us a glimpse into his home and studio in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.

A14 to become world’s first wifi road?

Around 70 miles of the A14 between Cambridge and Felixstowe is to become a ‘smart road’ fitted with sensors that monitor traffic movement. These sensors will generate highly accurate information about the level of traffic congestion, which is then wirelessly transmitted to a central control system in order to automatically adjust the variable speed limit. On Bing: see pictures of smart roads Find out how much a used Smart car costs on Auto Trader Sounds quite cunning, really.

2012 Mini roadster revealed

Mini has revealed the definitive production version of its 2012 roadster. Sister car to the recently introduced coupe, alongside which it will be built at Mini's Oxford plant in England, the compact two-seater arrives a little more than two years after it was first shown in lightly veiled concept car guise at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show. Rival to the enduring Mazda Miata, the Mini roadster is planned to make its public debut at the Detroit auto show in January prior to going on sale in North America in mid-2012.