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

Lamborghini Brand and Design Director steps down

According to well-placed sources within the automotive design community, Car Design News has learned that Manfred Fitzgerald, Brand and Design Director at Lamborghini, has been asked to leave the company. It is presumed his role with the company's design aspects will likely be absorbed by current Audi Group Head of Design Wolfgang Egger. Fitzgerald had been working at Lamborghini since 1999, shortly after the sports car maker was bought by parent company Volkswagen through Audi AG.

One Lap of the Web: A Miata ninja, classic race cars and the world's most vintage-car-friendly city

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- If you (or your children) love the smartphone and tablet app Fruit Ninja, you will get a kick out of Motor Authority's photo gallery from the Donington Historic Festival.

Design Contest: LA Design Challenge 2008

The entrants for the fifth annual Design Challenge, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers' conference, have now been announced. Nine Southern California automotive design studios - including Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen - have been pitted against one another and asked to develop a concept which best answers a brief entitled 'Motorsports in 2025'. "Automotive designers have always been fascinated with motorsports and this year's Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc.