1976 77 78 Yamaha Rd400 Nice Original Kickstand on 2040-parts.com

Car giant starts recruitment phase

CAR GIANT Jaguar Land Rover has started recruiting for the first phase of 1,700 new jobs to support production of new vehicles. The company said 500 production staff will be taken on as part of expansion plans at its factory in Solihull, West Midlands. The carmaker is investing £1.5 billion in the UK and plans to increase its workforce at Solihull to almost 8,000.

2014 MINI John Cooper Works Concept revealed ahead of Detroit debut

The 2014 MINI John Cooper Works Concept (pictured) will debut in Detroit next month The new MINI was revealed just last month, and it sounds the gong for the start of the race to churn out as many variants on the MINI as BMW can manage. And the first of what will be many variants to come of the new MINI is this – the new MINI John Cooper Works Concept – revealed this morning ahead of a debut in a few weeks at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. MINI aren’t letting on what’s under the bonnet of the new MINI JCW, but it seems almost certain it will be a more powerful version of the new 2.0 litre petrol for the Cooper S, which gets 189bhp in the Coopper S but will doubtless get something north of 200bhp in the new JCW.

The Designers, Pt7 – Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group

Car Design News launched its first-ever Car Design Review yearbook at the Geneva Motor Show, featuring the award-winning Production Car and Concept Car Designs of 2013. If you're interested in buying a copy of the 160-page yearbook this interview appears in, alongside trend reports, bespoke car design infographics and a special feature on Marcello Gandini, our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Car Design Review can be purchased here. Name Ralph GillesRole VP design, Chrysler GroupAge, nationality 44, USLocation Michigan, USAEducation Center for Creative Studies, Detroit "Watching the Cherokee be born in 2013 was a very radical design departure for Jeep.