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

Smart Forspeed concept signals new design direction

Smart will unveil a new concept at the forthcoming Geneva motor show that signals a new design direction, hints at future product and confirms parent company Daimler's renewed commitment to the brand. Car Design News was granted early access to the concept, baptized Forspeed, at a secret photography studio in Stuttgart last week and heard the head of advanced design, Steffen Kohl, explain how the two-seat, electric-powered vehicle prefaces design themes in both the next Fortwo and the revived Forfour, which will be launched in 2014. "The fullness of this concept's exterior surfaces is important and will be reflected in future production models," said Kohl, "Smart will still be short, spacey, agile, and with wheels at the corners of the car, but with an added sporty and emotional design and without losing all the brand's iconic elements like its ‘plastic fantastic' aspect and the safe and hi-tech modular tridion shell assembled with all these changeable body parts.

Fun with fiberglass: Petersen exhibit celebrates moldable material

To be an artisan in aluminum or the Stradivarius of steel, you need about 40 years as an apprentice working metal with pinchers and pullers and to spend a lot of time rolling sheets back and forth through an English wheel. To make something out of fiberglass, all you need is resin. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is celebrating all things fiberglass--especially the cars--with an exhibit that runs through Oct.

Opel/Vauxhall Corsa E

If this fifth-generation Opel Corsa looks familiar, that's because this is more a heavy facelift than an all-new car.Opel has concentrated efforts on the eight-year old Corsa's mechanicals rather than an all-new bodyshell. Instead every exterior panel has been redesigned, alongside the entire interior.This is the first Corsa developed under GM Europe's VP of design, Mark Adams and his influence is clear to see, with the incorporation of the lower bodyside 'blade' surface and the pouting mouth of the Adam.While its proportions and upper body are clearly carried over, the new nose treatment in particular disguises the car's high scuttle thanks to the lower grille, lamps and diving shoulderline. The hood also gains a deeply recessed center surface that visually cheats down its height.In order to disguise the carryover glass, the rear of the five-door version's DLO now kicks up at the base of the C-pillar rather than running through into the rear, giving a stronger aesthetic.