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

Umea Olme Spyder project

While Swedish automaker Saab was going through tumultuous times and Geely was in the process of buying Volvo from Ford, first year MA students in Transportation Design at Sweden's Umea Institute of Design were busy creating a one-off roadster for an independent car maker: the Olme Spyder. Created in collaboration with Ove Bengtsson, an engineer with a personal passion for building his own vehicles, the students were asked to design their own interpretation of a progressive and innovative roadster, developing the concept from a sketch into a full-scale model. Based on an Opel Agila donor car, the concept's 650kg steel monocoque chassis was created by Bengtsson himself to accommodate a mid-mounted engine.

Toyota FT-CH Concept – a new ‘Small & Sporty’ Toyota Prius

The Toyota FT-CH Concept - a stumpy Prius Toyota held a 25 minute press conference this morning at the Detroit Motor Show to tell the assembled throng of journos that it’s going to make lots of Hybrids. Once everyone picked themselves up off the floor after the shock of that revelation, Toyota went on to say that the Toyota FT-CH Concept they were unveiling was a look at the future of Toyota’s hybrid cars and would be part of an extended family of Prius models. Will we ever recover from such shocking revelations?

Jaguar C-X17 concept (2013) Jag 4x4 at Frankfurt motor show

Here it is then: Jaguar’s brave new future, the C-X17 crossover concept car, unveiled of the eve of the 2013 Frankfurt motor show. Officially, it’s nothing more than a Frankfurt-bound design study to show off the talent of Jaguar’s new ‘iQ Al’ modular aluminium platform. But with the luxury crossover market in overdrive and armed with a contender that looks this sharp, you can bet this is far more than a statement of intent...