BMW Zagato Roadster

BMW and Zagato turned heads at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance with its latest collaboration: The BMW Zagato roadster, just months after the unveil of the unveil of their coupé at Villa d'Este. The car, developed in just six months, features a low-set kidney grille – complete with tiny matt-sheen Zagato 'Z' letters – and circular headlamps on a sharply lined contoured hood, while Zagato's signature double-bubble design is seen again on the car and serves to extend the lines of the hood to the rear. Like the coupé version it is again the work of Norihiko Harada, Zagato's Chief Designer.

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz S-Class W222

It was one of the more memorable automotive events this year, and the massive thunderstorm only added to the drama. Last night Mercedes-Benz launched its new S-Class sedan in the delivery hall of Airbus in Hamburg and Car Design News was there to get the low-down on this eagerly-awaited limo. Context was fittingly provided by an A380 lounging in the background as the current lineup of Mercedes-Benz escorted Benz's big boy onto the stage, amidst artificial fireworks and real thunder and lightning.

McLaren P1 back at the Nurburgring in attack mode

The McLaren P1 is back at the Nurburgring looking to set a new record It was brave of Ron Dennis to declare – before the McLaren P1 was anywhere close to finished – that the it would be able to lap the Nurburgring in under 7 minutes. He was obviously very confident his new baby was up to the task but, just like McLaren’s current Formula One car, the P1 seems to be just a bit off the pace. Last month we reported that it seemed the best the McLaren P1 could do at the Nurburgring was a 7:04s – a time McLaren didn’t make official – so we knew McLaren would be back with their laptops and engineers as soon as they’d figured a way to trim those last few seconds.