1973 Ford Truck Nos Motorcraft Headlight Switch Sw-1157 D3tz-11654-a on 2040-parts.com

Brazilian students develop soapbox racers for Volkswagen

Brazilian design students have competed for year-long internships at Volkswagen's Brazilian design studio by designing – and racing – soapbox cars. Established 15 years ago by Volkswagen South America design director Luiz Veiga, the Volkswagen Design Talent Contest refreshed its format for 2013 by challenging students to develop a prototype for a gravity-powered soapbox racer instead of asking for sketch and render-based proposals. According to Veiga, Volkswagen was looking for someone "capable of working away from the desk and able to create design solutions, assess and build them".

Mercedes E 63 AMG S: UK price from £83,740

The E63 AMG S is the extreme version of what is already an extreme car in the E63, with a power boost that takes it from 549bhp to 577bhp – and throws in an extra 60lb/ft of torque for good measure too – and promises real extreme performance. The problem is, getting that power down to the road. In left hand drive markets that’s solved by simply offering the Mercedes 4WD option – 4MATIC – which does a much better job of transferring power to the road than the regular RWD layout.

Honda Civic (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the ninth generation of Honda’s small car star, which has gestated from trend setting (Civic Mk1 of 1972) to stylistically dull if technically advanced (most) to sci-fi-style wacko but technically mainstream (Civic Mk8). New Civics, over the years, have been about as easy to forecast as David Beckham’s next hairstyle as Honda engineers – never the most predictable bunch – veer from brave to bashful. The new Civic, unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, is eye-catching although less off-centre than generation eight, and is closed basely mechanically on its predecessor.