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

Car Design News Contest

As one judge, Geert Jan Schellekens, Principal Automotive and Industrial Designer at SABIC Innovative Plastics, said; "From several hundred entries to 20 finalists in a day's time - what could have turned out to be a cumbersome process, if not a bureaucratic nightmare, actually became an intensive yet fun session with many intriguing and interesting interpretations of the contest brief - fuelling some lively discussions!" Another strong impression from judges was also of the variety of design entry and the effort that had been put into them, as Dale Harrow said: "I'm very impressed with the standard, and particularly with the diversity of entries to the contest". Derek Buckmaster,Global Market Director, Body Panels & Glazing for SABIC Innovative Plastics, said: "I was surprised by the depth of thought which the entrants had put into their designs to meet the diverse needs of the three 'milenniumites' described in the design brief. The designs displayed numerous approaches to meeting the environmentally-friendly and light-weight goals." All designs were considered relative to the Assessment Criteria a critically important part of the contest, created to ensure as much fairness in the process as possible and detailed in the Contest part of Car Design News.

Seat celebrates 60 years of production

SPANISH car maker Seat has this week celebrated its 60th anniversary, releasing pictures dating back to its very first model, the 1400. Six decades have now passed since the first 1400 rolled off the production line, when the brand new company was inundated with 10,000 orders following the end of petrol rationing in Spain. With so much production demand Seat was able to drop the initial price of 121,875 to a more reasonable 117,000 pesetas, or what would have been about £590 at the time.

Nissan e-NV200 electric van gets a headline starting price of £13,393

The Nissan e-NV200 electric van (pictured) – the start of an EV revolution for commercial vehicles? We’ve always been reluctant to see the electric car as a proper replacement for an ICE car, but an electric van for commercial deliveries in a reasonably confined area is a different animal altogether. So the arrival of the Nissan e-NV200 electric van is a big deal and could revolutionise how deliveries are made in our towns and cities, usefully shifting not just CO2, but NoX and particulates off to where the electricity is generated and making much less noise too.