A-frame Trailer Coupler Class 3 -2 5/16in Ball 14k Lbs on 2040-parts.com

2009 Mini Convertible Springs In

It’s been a bit of a ‘Mini-Fest’ this week, what with the Mini E in Berlin and the news that the Mini is the least depreciating car in the UK. And now we have the first official images of the new Mini Convertible, due to hit showrooms in Spring 2009. Based of course on the latest Mini, the convertible keeps the familiar face, but has a raised shoulder line to accommodate the soft-top.

Driven: Ford Focus

The previous two generations of the Ford Focus have consistently been near the top of the European best sellers list over their combined 13-year life spans, but this new car has even greater responsibility. This is the first Focus designed – from the outset – for European, American and Asian markets combined. The biggest, most pertinent question is whether the global 'One Ford' strategy this car has been designed under can work in practice.

Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.