Intermot Motorcycle Show 2004

Motorcycle design is a term that conjures up many images to different people. To the majority North Americans, designing a motorcycle suggests a garage where several enthusiasts resembling the hit TV show Orange County Choppers assemble bikes based on the Harley Davidson model, with acres of chromed after market parts and hand lacquered custom paint jobs.To many others no thought is given at all to how the shapes of the bikes on the street came into being. The reality is that the major motorcycle manufacturers employ professional designers and serious technology the same way as in the car industry does, even if the final product is so different.

Citroen Tubik concept

Citroen has revealed the Tubik,  a large upright MPV concept which draws on the French automaker's previous Tub van from the late 1930s. The surface language of the MPV - the car doubles as both a commercial van and a people carrier - is decidedly more technical than previous Citroen concepts, but it still sports a resolutely rounded aesthetic. Its front face draws heavily on the 1948 Type H van, which was built up through to the 1980s.

Philip Hammond: Winter Tyres are no good in the UK. Wrong.

Philip Hammond drops a clanger on Winter Tyres Throughout all of last year’s snow we lost count of the number of times we were asked if winter tyres were a good idea. You see, winter tyres are not something the Brits know much about. Ask most UK drivers what a winter tyre is and they have visions of something bordering on a James Bond special with spikes to get a grip.