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

McLaren reportedly at work on its next big thing

While we're getting ready for the soon-to-be-released McLaren MP4-12C, the British sports-car maker is at work on its next project. McLaren is aiming for a 2014 launch for a sports car that is larger than the MP4-12C, according to the Web site of the U.K.'s Autocar magazine. The magazine says McLaren is working with engineering firm Ricardo to develop a 5.0-liter engine that cranks out nearly 800 hp.

CPP buys Bowler Offroad

Bowler Nemesis - Now made - and owned - by CPP Goodness, CPP Manufacturing are busy little bees at the moment. No sooner do we learn that CPP has bought Spyker Cars (well, strictly speaking it’s CPP Global Holdings Ltd who are hoovering up with Vladimir Antonov’s money) than we discover CPP has also acquired Bowler Offroad. For the uninitiated, Bowler are the makers of bonkers offroad vehicles that can probably be best described as Land Rover Supercars.

An Audience with Syd Mead at CCS

"Visual futurist and concept artist." Like some sort of Transformer, those words combine to create an ideal job description for many an industrial designer. With the world of design becoming more varied, and our jobs becoming more demanding of diversity, it's no surprise that many of us venture into adjacent professions. Industrial Design has adapted especially well recently to Hollywood, bringing our experience to recent films like Avatar and Prometheus, but the trend actually goes back several decades.