Umea Institute of Design degree show 2010

Earlier this month, Car Design News attended Umea University's annual degree show. Covering student work from the MA Interaction Design, Advanced Product Design and Transport Design programs and the BA Industrial Design program, it was the first exhibition overseen by Umea's new Rector, Anna Valtonen, formerly head of Design Research & Foresight at Nokia. In a departure from the show's traditional format, this year saw keynotes and workshops spread over two days.

Building a business around Alfa lust

In a low-key industrial complex just north of Detroit sits a trove of 1960s and '70s Alfa Romeos. To describe it as a “treasure” trove doesn't quiet fit, because in the words of owner Richard Davisson, the Italian icons are “everything from pathetic to just about done.” Several of the dozen or so cars are gorgeous. Most are interesting.

Chevrolet Volt (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Oliver First Official Pictures 07 January 2007 03:24 Don't tell me – it's another me-too green car concept that's too expensive and complex to ever be made… Not quite. For a start it's an entirely new concept, and important enough to be General Motor's biggest news from the Detroit show. An electric motor drives the front wheels.