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

Back to basics for VW, says Walter de Silva

By Adam Towler Motor Industry 25 June 2008 13:01 It was an odd place for an inside line into what future Volkswagens will look like, but when head of VW Group design Walter de Silva invited CAR to the old Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin - now a conference and shopping centre – we could hardly say no. De Silva described VW as being immersed in a 'process of defining their design language' which could be read as ‘we’re still sucking our designer thumbs to see what happens’. Audi, De Silva said, had already been through that process and its design DNA was ‘understood by everyone in the company, right down to the smallest details'.

Chevrolet Mi-ray concept gets a new ‘mid-electric' hybrid powertrain

General Motors Co. has unveiled a sporty South Korean-developed concept car that showcases a "mid-electric" hybrid powertrain that can run on electric-only front-wheel drive or tap a gasoline engine to turn the rear wheels for extra power. Dubbed the Chevrolet Mi-ray, Korean for "future," the compact, open roadster gets a carbon fiber body mounted on an aluminum chassis for lightweight performance.

McLaren X-1 - rebodied MP4-12C supercar (2012)

Sometimes, the best just isn’t good enough. That’s why a wealthy anonymous car collector – garage already full of McLaren F1, McLaren Mercedes SLR and MP4-12C, and goodness knows how many fabulous non-McLarens – thought he’d like to produce his very own one-off supercar. The new McLaren X-1, which makes its debut at The Quail, part of the Pebble Beach weekend, is the result.