VW Beetle Final Edition (2010) at LA

The 2010 VW Final Edition revealed at the LA Amotor Show There is really only one place that holds a torch for the Volkswagen Beetle, and that’s the USA. So it’s entirely appropriate the VW chose the LA Motor Show to launch what will be the last version of the Beetle before an all new Beetle arrives in 2012. The Final Edition Beetle marks eleven years of almost unchanged production for a less than convincing recreation of a motoring icon.

IAT Crosswind II concept (w/ Gallery)

The Crosswind II concept was one of three very competently resolved full-size models displayed on IAT's large stand at the Beijing motor show. A development of the Cross-Coupé model seen two years ago in Beijing. It's a simple concept: the top half is coupé, the lower half has a tough offroader aesthetic,  and it's powered by a 150kW electric motor.

Cars, Culture and the City

When you think of American cities associated with the car it is Los Angeles of course that leaps first to mind, thanks mostly to Hollywood, and Detroit second. But New York turns out to have been vital in the history of car design, as I found researching an exhibition Cars, Culture and the City at the Museum of the City of New York as guest curator over the last few months, working with the museums curator architecture and design, Donald Albrecht. The show has just opened, on March 25.