2001 Yamaha Vstar 1100 Headlight on 2040-parts.com

World Car Design of the Year 2014 award shortlist revealed

The BMW i3 and Volkswagen XL1 are amongst the contenders for the World Car Design of the Year award as the top 10 finalists in each category of the tenth annual World Car Awards are announced. The full shortlist of nominees for the 2014 World Car Design of the Year Award are: BMW i3; Cadillac CTS; Citröen C4 Picasso; Lexus IS; Mazda3; Mercedes-Benz C-Class; Volkswagen XLR1; Cadillac ELR; Range Rover Sport and Volkswagen XL1. As in previous years for the World Car Design of the Year award, a panel of five design experts reviews all candidates before writing up recommendations for the jury of 69 international automotive journalists to consider.

2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage range gets an overhaul

The 2012 Aston Martin Vantage gets a tweak The Aston Martin V8 Vantage range gets an engineering and cosmetic facelift for 2012. Starts at £84,995. It’s all but impossible for Aston Martin to come up with a new mainstream model, so all they can do is nip, tuck and tweak their existing cars in the hope that the market continues to smile favourably on their offerings.

BMW 5-Series GT introduces liftback model

BMW will bring the elevated seating and packaging of an SUV to its 5-series line with the addition of a liftback model called the Grand Turismo or, simply, GT. The automaker is now revealing the production look for the vehicle, which will debut at this fall's Frankfurt motor show after having been previewed as a concept car at the Geneva show in March. It will go on sale in the United States in December, priced in the low-$70,000s range.