Blog on 2040Parts

Audi A3 Cabriolet

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 05 December 2007 09:00 So what’s the A3 cabrio like in the metal? Not bad. It gets the latest Audi family face, though you’ll have to pay extra for the outta-my-way LED daytime running lights.

Hyundai i10 revealed

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 05 December 2007 09:30 Didn’t we see this last month? Two months ago actually, but the new Hyundai i10 city car makes its official show debut at Bologna, and CAR was given access to the car the night before the show so we could have a proper poke round it. Hyundai officials also let slip that the Genesis saloon will be shown at the start of 2008 in Detroit, while the production Coupe will be previewed at the New York Motor Show in March 2008.

Peugeot Bipper Beep Beep

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 05 December 2007 10:00 A Bipper Beep Beep... now there's a name to be proud of Yes, indeed. We thought Citroen's Nemo was a bit of a joke name, but the Beep Beep takes the silly name game on to the next level.

Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type UK

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 05 December 2007 10:30 Come on, I’ve seen the new Impreza before… You have, but not this one. Subaru chose the Bologna Motor Show for the debut of the UK-spec WRX STi, which unlike the 2.0-litre Japanese model we’ve driven, uses a 2.5-litre engine. It’s still a flat-four ‘boxer’, but emission regulations, and some premium pride, mean the larger capacity engine continues in the UK.

Citroen Nemo Concetto concept (2007) news

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 05 December 2007 17:00 There's something fishy going on here... Look beyond the cutesy paintwork for a moment and you’ll see Citroen’s new Nemo Concetto, a van-derived people carrier concept that’s based on the recently launched Nemo commercial van. The idea behind the Nemo – a three-way development with Fiat and Peugeot – is to tap into the massive European market for van-based family cars.

Porsche Rennsport Reunion

By Ben Barry Motor Shows 05 December 2007 17:00 That’s quite some collection you’ve got there If only. This is a selection (yes, there were lots more) of Porsche race cars from the Rennsport Reunion held recently at Daytona Beach, Florida. The event runs every three years, organised by Brian Redman (of Can-Am and F1 fame) and his son James with a helping hand from Stuttgart.

Ford Focus ST and estate facelift

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 05 December 2007 17:00 A new fast Ford? Not quite. This is a hot Focus, but it’s only a facelifted version of the current ST.

Fiat Grande Punto Abarth SS and revised Croma

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 05 December 2007 17:00 I love a bit of white on white, makes me feel like a chav… Fiat used the Italian Motor Show to pull the wraps of the production version of the Grande Punto Abarth SS. And we’re still going to call it a Fiat first, and an Abarth second. The SS comes as a kit and will boost the Punto up to 178bhp and 199lb ft.

Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (2008) teaser pictures

By Liz Turner First Official Pictures 05 December 2007 17:30 From what I can see, I like… We agree. To be shown at the Chicago Auto Show at the start of February 2008, this is the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8. From what we can see there are plenty of of hat-tips to the original, such as the rectangular exhausts the size of letter boxes (although they usually came in pairs) and a rear lip spoiler like the one on the tail of the 1970 Challenger T/A.

Mercworld's first birthday

By Motor Industry 03 December 2007 09:36 Mercedes-Benz World will be celebrating its first birthday this weekend, and you’re invited.  Although officially the anniversary was last week, it’ll be this Saturday and Sunday (3-4 November) that the festivities take place. Stirling Moss will be going down to Surrey to collect the keys to his new Smart and sign autographs, they’ll be a free prize draw to win passenger rides in the SLR or with the Silver Arrows display team, and Mercedes’ AMG and off-road courses will be available for a birthday price of £15.

Nissan GT-R import fears

By Motor Industry 03 December 2007 09:43 Bargain hunters rejoice! Nissan's new GT-R costs just £34,400 in Japan - spelling out juicy savings for grey importers in the UK, where the super-coupe is tipped to cost £60,000. Even after the cost of shipping and import duties, that means you could land a Japanese-spec car for around £42-£45k.

Vauxhall Vectra renamed as Insignia

By Motor Industry 03 December 2007 09:46 Vauxhall has renamed its Vectra replacement, and like we all thought, it's going to be called Insignia. According to Vauxhall the Insignia name represents 'a new name for a new era', and we'll see if Vauxhall is telling the truth when the covers come off the new car at the British Motor Show in July 2008. It's a big claim for Vauxhall, but the teaser shot (above right) shows that at least Vauxhall seems to have gotten the design of the Insignia right.

Show Review: Tokyo Concours D’Elegance

Tokyo has hosted the first of what it hopes will become the Japanese equivalent of America's Pebble Beach and Italy's Villa D'Este. Held at the plush Tokyo Midtown shopping mall/commercial complex, the Tokyo Concours D'Elegance was initiated by enthusiast Paul Goldsmith and coincided with the first public days of the Tokyo Motor Show - though regrettably also with a typhoon, forcing organisers to cover the cars on the lawns, which were ultimately closed due to flooding. Fortunately, the exhibition had been split between in- and outdoors, and while the weather lashed out at those braving the winds, there were still some interesting displays for those wishing to remain dry.

Reventon v Tornado

By Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 28 November 2007 17:08 Lamborghini’s mean-looking €1 million Reventón may look like a stealth fighter without the wings, but a couple of Raging Bull test drivers decided to take on the real thing over the weekend. They raced a Tornado fighter bomber, one of the world's most sophisticated and capable interdiction and attack aircraft. Lined up on the 1.8 mile-long runway at Ghedi military base near Brescia in Italy, the 650bhp mid-engined supercar looked a little short of muscle compared to the two-seater Tornado.

Aston Martin's design future

By Motor Industry 28 November 2007 17:20 Aston Martin boss Ulrich Bez has told CAR Online he wants to evolve the firm's distinctive design 'for the next 20 years'. The company hopes to repeat the success of the timeless Porsche 911. The next generation of Astons will be styled at the company's new design studio, due to open on 11 December 2007.

Chevrolet to build the Beat

By Motor Industry 28 November 2007 17:25 Chevrolet has just announced that its tiny baby, the Beat, will go into production in 2010. It will be sold in the US - and across Europe. Chevrolet previewed three city car concepts at the New York Auto Show earlier this year.

Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept

The third eco-friendly concept Chrysler will be unveiling at the Detroit Auto Show in January will be this ecoVoyager show car, a four-door, four-passenger vehicle. Like the Ford Airstream concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show last year, this concept explores the potential of maximizing interior space through employing an electric powertrain mated to an environmentally-friendly hydrogen fuel-cell. Overall the exterior design of the ecoVoyager appears fairly conventional.

Jeep Renegade Concept

Chrysler has revealed three sketches of new concepts it is scheduled to unveil at the Detroit Auto Show in January. One of these is the Jeep Renegade Concept, a sporty B-segment-sized two-seater the automaker claims is ideally suited for the all-weather delights of off-roading and dune surfing. The design of the vehicle is a futuristic take on the existing open-topped Jeep Wrangler, featuring a cut-down speedster windshield, a roll bar, openings in the door lowers and a hose-out interior.

Seat opens new Global Design Center

Seat has opened its new Global Design Center, located within the Technical Center close to its manufacturing operations in Martorell, near Barcelona. A week of opening celebrations culminated with an event on Nov 8 for designers from the fields of architecture, fashion, industry, advertising, communication, art and photography, as well as specialised design media. More than 130 attendees were able to stroll around the Seat Design Center facilities in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Mazda 2 Sedan

Like the Americans, the Chinese aren't big fans of hatchback models. That's why Mazda revealed the Mazda 2 sedan at the 2007 Guangzhou Motor Show. This version of the 2 is has a more elegant form than the five-door hatch, and its stretched aesthetic aims to capture new customers in the rapidly growing Chinese B-car segment.

Ford Verve Sedan

Just as Mazda is exhibiting a sedan version of the 2 at Auto Guangzhou, the automaker's parent company, Ford, is revealing a sedan version of the Verve concept. The second in a series of concepts that will culminate with yet another variant set to be unveiled in Detroit, this 'notchback' provides further insight to the future small car design direction for Ford. Ford's European design team, which created the Verve concepts, applied Ford's kinetic design philosophy and built on the look of its hatchback sibling.

Pontiac SD-290

According to GM, the Pontiac SD-290 concept is "Designed to evoke the emotions of classic sports cars". Introduced at SEMA, the vehicle is derived from a Pontiac Solstice but has been transformed into a pure single-seat race car with its passenger compartment made obsolete by a hard tonneau cover. Despite its competition red paint scheme, it is difficult not to relate the SD-290 to the timeless shape of a D-Type Jaguar. We can also see the influence of BMW's 2004 H2R land speed record breaking concept in the SD-290's asymmetrical layout, with its racing cockpit protected only by a small windscreen in front of the driver and a faired headrest and roll-bar behind the seat.

Hyundai SonataTransform

Hyundai has released the first photos of its Sonata Transform sedan, one of the most important vehicles in the carmaker's lineup. This is its first major facelift since it was launched in 2004. The new design is a departure from its predecessor and the styling language has shifted from what was geometrical to a more organic and softer form, with rounder bumper surfaces and softer edges at the radiator grille and around the headlamps.

Samsung SM5

Samsung Motors, the Korean subsidiary of Renault-Nissan Alliance, recently released the newly-redesigned SM5 sedan for the Korean domestic market. Based on the Nissan Teana, the SM5 is the second best-selling vehicle in Korea's D1 segment, ceding the top spot to Hyundai's Sonata. The most significant change to the exterior design is visible around the front bumper region, where the strong 'chin' (lower section of bumper volume) displays both solid and aggressive styling cues when viewed from the front.

Design Development: Kumho Epoch concept

The Epoch project is a concept you wouldn't normally expect from a tire manufacturer. Inspired by the company's success in this year's Le Mans 24 hour race, Kumho decided to employ its conceptual abilities to create their version of an environmentally-friendly Le Mans car of the future. Designed around innovative tire technology, the 'blue sky' Epoch eco-friendly racing car is the first in a series of concept vehicles set to be developed by Kumho over the next few years.

Audi Cross Cabriolet quattro concept (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 14 November 2007 09:00 Ah, the new Audi A3 convertible… Not quite. It certainly looks like a drop-top A3, and although that car’s on the way, this is the Audi Cross Cabriolet quattro. Now trying say that really fast.

Pontiac Vibe

One week after Toyota introduced its new Matrix at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Pontiac presented the new redesigned Vibe at the LA Auto Show, a five-door hatchback short wagon that - like the Matrix - is derived from a lengthened and widened Corolla platform. Clear brand differentiation between the two cars is done through the styling of the Vibe's excusive sheet metal and different interior finishes and trim. To better relate the Vibe to the Pontiac Solstice or G8, designers wanted to express more muscle and leave behind last generation's "mini-SUV" look.

Essay: Variable Degrees of Translucency

Car door panels and fenders are generally made of steel, sometimes of aluminum or plastic composites, and you can't see through them. Car windows, on the other hand, are made of a transparent sandwich of glass and plastic - and you can see through them. But in the future there will be variable degrees of transparency: translucent elements where once there were none, traditional window areas that will have opaque elements and graduated progressions from opaque to see-through.

The cure for forgetful parkers

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 12 November 2007 05:24 London's new Terminal 5 at the world's busiest airport, Heathrow, will feature some novel facilities for forgetful travellers - including a car finder system to remind you where you parked. Opening in 2008, the fifth terminal will boast 7000 new spaces in three car parks. But it's the technology within that impresses more than the number of spaces.

Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR (2007): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 09 November 2007 01:13 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR: the lowdown As if the regular Dodge Viper, sorry, SRT10, wasn't hard enough, the Street and Racing Technology division at the Chrysler group's Detroit HQ have dreamed up a hardcore street-legal racing version. It's not for the faint-hearted, as you can tell from the angry body addenda and huge spoilers mounted on the already monstrous coupe. The ACR bit of the name denotes it's an American Club Racer spec car - it's the first use of the badge on a Viper since 1999.