Selling cars with a French twist at the Artcurial auction

If you are one of those people who have trouble following the auctioneer when you are at an auction, I have news for you: Try following it in French. When you don't speak the language. The Artcurial auction, held on Friday night at Retromobile, has now happily concluded.

Design Development: KTM X-Bow

KTM is an Austrian motorcycle company. Originally it produced only off-road bikes, but now it also makes ATVs / quads and road orientated machines, all focused on the enthusiast end of the motorbike market - there are no retro-cruisers, scooters or large screened tourers in the KTM range. In the summer of 2005, this hardcore motorbike company, along with their design partner of 14 years, Kiska, embarked on a research project, which within 6 months saw them committed to adding a sports car to their range.

No sign of global auto meltdown at Tokyo Auto Salon

With more than 600 cars on display and a record number of exhibitors, nothing at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon tuner show hinted at the global economic downturn. As always, there was a great mix of styles, from hard-core, 1,000-hp, supertuned machinery to weird customized scooter tricycles. Auto manufacturers tried hard to capture the minds--if not the wallets--of the younger-than-30 crowd with customized versions of production cars, while tuners were busy persuading power junkies to choose them for their next engine modification.