Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Design Services: Car Menu launched

Within almost every automotive design department throughout the world, their comes a time when a junior designer is dispatched to find a picture of some new model's tail lamp, the side view of a particular class leading competitor or examples of several new cars' colour and trim packages. Whilst looking at the competition is not necessarily a healthy way of finding ideas, it is often essential to demonstrate what is feasible, check in-house proposals are not too derivative, or show how advanced a design theme is relative to the same type of cars on the market. But even if the particular aspect of a car can be found, press packs and magazines typically show cars in the flattering light of an exotic location or being drifted around a corner on opposite lock; rarely are these images particularly useful.

Geely’s Rolls Royce clone gets de-cloned

The Geely GE Facelift - no longer a RR Clone It’s amazing how much things have moved on in the last twelve months. A year ago we reported that China’s Geely had become the latest Chinese car maker to produce a complete rip-off clone of a Western car, in this case a clone of the Rolls Royce Phantom. The Geely ‘Phantom’ even sported a  single seat  ’Throne’ in the back so the owner could feel really important in his Chinese version of  a Western plutocrat’s carriage.

‘Amis de la 2CV’ gathering later this month

A record-breaking global gathering of Citroën 2CVs is set to take place from July 26-31 at the 19th International 'Amis de la 2CV', so we thought it was a good opportunity to showcase the now legendary model designed by Flaminio Bertoni. The biennial event is expected to attract over 6,000 examples of the iconic model, with participants from all over the world coming together to celebrate one of Citroën's biggest success stories. The 2011 event, involving many of Europe's 2CV owner's clubs, promises to be the biggest yet.