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Beijing Jeep Corporation BJ2S

These are pictures of the BJ2S, the first new Chinese military jeep in 35 years. Hailing from the Beijing Jeep Corporation (BJC), the BJ2S is also called the 'Warrior' and was designed by Edward Wong. The entire concept came to realization in a scant two and a half months. Wong took inspiration from Bruce Lee and the Shaolin monks when creating the BJ2S, a utilitarian design theme with a front fascia drawing on the face of the kylin, an auspicious animal in Chinese culture.

College Exhibition: Coventry University Degree Show 2007

Undergraduate students from Coventry University's Transportation Design program had their initial show in the end of May this year, but the range of projects was so vast that a selection of work from the annual degree show was then chosen and displayed in Coventry Transport Museum on June 15. Car Design News was there to see what had been selected. Inspired by the Alfa BT4B with which Niki Lauda won the Swedish Formula One Grand Prix in 1978, Stephan Everwin created a modern interpretation of the 'Fan Car'.  Its rakish lines all culminate in a smooth aerodynamic shape that incorporates a huge fan between the rear wheels creating a massive vacuum under the car providing downforce at high speed.

Mitsubishi Lancer (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 27 June 2007 11:43 Mitsubishi Lancer: the lowdown With all the recent attention focused on Mitsubishi’s hot shot Evo X, its donor car, the Lancer, has been a bit neglected. Until now. A far cry from the unbreakable but unlovable stock Lancers that went before it, Mitsubishi’s new Jetta basher mixes sleek lines with four-square attitude and a healthy dollop of value for money.

ZAP electric car

California-based ZAP has completed the initial concept phase for a new electric vehicle claimed to hit a top speed in excess of 100 mph with a range of 100 miles per charge.  "With ZAP's experience over the past 12 years and the groundwork we have already laid, we know that electricity is the future of the auto industry," said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider.  "At the same time, we believe we have a design that will serve a niche no other manufacturer in the auto industry is seeking to fill." More details of the car will become available at the end of the month.

Ferrari Turns 60...

By Ben Oliver Motor Shows 26 June 2007 09:52 Happy Birthday to you... Ferrari is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a five-day party at its famous Fiorano test track. More than 1000 Ferraris have descended on Maranello from around the world, including some of the rarest and most valuable road cars.

Renault Twingo (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 25 June 2007 03:05 A GTI for the cash-strapped, then? Exactly. Renault’s new Twingo range arrives in showrooms in September, topped by the feisty GT with plenty of downsizer appeal.

Porsche hits out on CO2

By Phil McNamara Motoring Issues 22 June 2007 10:30 Porsche's next Cayenne and Panamera saloon will get petrol-electric hybrid engines, CAR Online can confirm, as the firm strives to reduce CO2 emissions. The sports car maker has gone on the attack, with tough new European Union guidelines on carbon emissions looming. Brussels has already announced it would like the average new car's emissions to total 130g/km of CO2 by 2012, and is now haggling with the industry about implementing the target.

Ferrari Mille Chili conceept (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Oliver First Official Pictures 21 June 2007 05:51 The Mille Chili? So this is Ferrari’s green supercar… Yes. Officially it has no name, but internally it’s called the Mille Chili (thousand kilos) and it’s arguably the most important concept car Ferrari has ever shown.

College Exhibition: Royal College of Art Show 2007

The Royal College of Art's annual post graduate degree show had a new name and a new venue this year. Held for the first time in a large pavilion tent in Kensington Gardens, directly opposite the main Royal College of Art building, 'The Great Exhibition' commemorates the 150th birthday of the South Kensington cultural and educational institutions. Car Design News caught up with a few of the 18 Vehicle Design graduates at a private viewing on June 14th.

ESP could save 380 lives a year

By Ben Shacham Motor Industry 19 June 2007 12:24 The campaign to make electronic stability control (ESC) standard on all new cars by 2012 is gathering momentum - and it could save 380 lives a year, say ministers. The UK's Department for Transport today claimed that hundreds of lives could be saved every year if all new cars had stability control fitted - totalling 4000 lives across Europe. A campaign to raise awareness of the potential benefits of ESC was launched last month in Rome by European commissioners and FIA president Max Mosley.

Tomorrow’s safety equipment

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 18 June 2007 08:48 The next generation of safety systems will take even more control away from the driver, read road signs – and even slam the brakes on for you in an emergency stop. Forget science fiction, this is science fact. CAR Online is reporting from Bosch’s annual technology seminar all week – and we’ve had the lowdown from the world’s biggest components supplier on what safety innovations are around the corner.

College Exhibition: Umea Institute of Design Degree Show 2007

Masters students at Umea University Institute of Design exhibited their final projects in at their annual Degree Exhibition in early June. This year, a record 45 students exhibited their work, including 13 from MA Transportation Design, 8 from MA Advanced Product Design, 10 from MA Interaction Design and a further 14 from the BA Industrial Design course. This year's MA Transportation Design programme was led by Lasse Pettersson, with Nick Coughlan as external tutor.

The €2000 car

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 15 June 2007 08:28 The market for bargain basement cars costing as little as €2000 (£1400) is about to grow dramatically. CAR Online is reporting from Bosch’s annual technology seminar all week – and we grilled the bosses at the world’s biggest components supplier to find out about the soaring demand for cars priced under €7000 (£4900). Bosch’s president of gasoline systems, Wolf-Henning Scheider, said: ‘According to our estimates, this vehicle class will reach a share of 13 percent of the world market in 2010.

New design boss for Alfa

By Jack Rix Motor Industry 14 June 2007 11:42 Frank Stephenson, the man credited with designing the new Mini and Fiat's retro 500, has been appointed to head up Alfa Romeo's design centre. He replaces Wolfgang Egger, responsible for the swooping 8C Competizione, who left earlier this year to join Audi. Stephenson joins Alfa at a crucial time, prior to its re-entry into the US market.

Luigi Colani - Translating Nature

One of the most influential designers of the past half-century, Luigi Colani, is the subject of an exhibition at the Design Museum in London. With a career spanning almost six decades, Colani has applied his unique design style to produce cars, trucks, boats, aircraft, ceramics and consumer goods, as well as creating futuristic concepts for as-yet unrealized transport systems and architecture. There are Colani tea pots, mineral water bottles and sun glasses, but much of his work remains in the form of dream-like models or photographic montages.

Ferrari smashes world record

By Jack Rix Motor Shows 13 June 2007 03:53 Another record for Ferrari? Ferrari has set a new record on the Silverstone circuit – but this one didn't involve F1 car heroics or three figure speeds. Ferrari GB and the Ferrari Owners Club set a new world record for the 'largest parade of Ferrari cars,' tripling the previous effort.

New car looms from McLaren F1-creator

By Phil McNamara Motor Industry 13 June 2007 10:18 Gordon Murray is set to finally realise his dream of creating a highly efficient, radical car for mass production. The mastermind behind the F1 supercar left McLaren Cars a couple of years ago, and has now secured the funding to set up on his own. Gordon Murray Design Limited – a design, prototyping and development company – will be launched on 4 July.

Who's Where: Frank Stephenson appointed Director of Design for Alfa Romeo

Frank Stephenson began his new position as Director of Design at Alfa Romeo today, CDN can reveal. Stephenson left his role as Head of the Fiat, Lancia and Commercial Vehicle Styling Center last month and is now effectively filling a role that has been unoccupied since Wolfgang Egger left to become head of Audi's Style Center. Since Lorenzo Ramaciotti has been recently appointed to a newly created position as Cheif of Design at Fiat, Stephenson's previous position is now vacant.

Jaguar/Land Rover sell-off latest (2007)

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 12 June 2007 07:36 Ford has appointed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to investigate selling its British premium brands Jaguar and Land Rover. The move effectively signals the end of the Blue Oval's PAG division. Officials have refused to confirm or deny the sale, but have outlined to MPs the deal which will spin off Jaguar and Land Rover, but retain Volvo in the Ford family.

Brooklands Centenary

By Jack Rix Motor Shows 12 June 2007 10:10 Brooklands Centenary Festival: the lowdown The world’s first purpose-built race track will celebrate 100 years of motorsport this weekend - 100 years to the day after opening its banked turns in 1907. A spectacular recreation of The Grand Opening Parade will see some of the track’s most famous racers taking to the old circuit for the first time in almost 50 years. And Brooklands' impossibly modern neighbour Mercedes-Benz World will embrace the past, too, displaying pre-war cars and motorcycles with Brooklands history.

Daihatsu Materia (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Rix First Official Pictures 11 June 2007 11:03 Daihatsu Materia: the lowdown At last, a Daihatsu with at least some street-cred! This is the new Materia mini-MPV, due to go on sale in July. It borrows the slammed-low, urban styling pioneered by cars such as the Nissan Cube and Honda Element, but this one will be imported officially into the UK.

Peugeot 308

These are the first pictures of the forthcoming Peugeot 308 that replaces the 307.  The car will compete predominantly in the lower medium European C-sector along with the Opel Astra, Ford Focus, the class leading Volkswagen Golf, and its PSA sibling: the Citroen C4. The 308 is expected to make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and be available at launch in 3 and 5 door hatchback body styles with other variants including an estate to follow. The design builds on the tall proportions established by its predecessor and some of the features that the 207 introduced as well as appearing to have been influenced by some Mercedes designs.

Caparo T1 (2007) in detail

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 08 June 2007 03:21 What's the latest news? The Caparo T1 is launched today, and it's the most extreme supercar ever built, claim its creators. Out of the way Le Mans racer or superbike – the British designed T1 is mightier than both.

Vauxhall Corsa SRi

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 08 June 2007 08:40 Vauxhall Corsa SRi: the lowdown Can't afford the VXR, but want something to spice up your Corsa? Vauxhall, or rather sister company Opel, unwrapped a new junior hot hatch at this week's Barcelona Motor Show. The new SRi model has many of the VXR's styling cues, but with a more wallet-friendly, lower-powered turbo engine.

Seat Altea Freetrack unveiled

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 08 June 2007 10:56 Seat Altea Freetrack: the lowdown Bandwagon alert! Seat is the latest manufacturer to join the soft-roader club, with the Freetrack version of the Altea XL, unveiled at this week's Barcelona Motor Show. It joins a growing list of Skoda Scouts, Volkswagen Dunes and Renault Conquests as mass-market makers toughen up their regular models with the 4x4 look.

Toyota's hybrid sales top one million

By Jack Carfrae Motor Industry 08 June 2007 12:16 Toyota, and its luxury arm Lexus, have notched up more than a million hybrid sales for the first time. First launched in Japan in 1997, the Prius has racked-up 758,000 sales internationally, 13,826 of them in the UK. And a third of the 1,047,000 hybrids built by Toyota found homes in its domestic Japanese market.

Caterham Seven X330 (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 06 June 2007 02:25 Caterham Seven X330: yet another track-day weapon? More of a track-day god. This is the most powerful Seven ever, packing a supercharger and 330bhp in a car that weighs next to nothing.

Volkswagen Tiguan (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 06 June 2007 11:51 Volkswagen Tiguan: the lowdown Here’s an unusual scoop – officially sanctioned photos of VW’s Tiguan hot-weather testing in Namibia. It’s still in pre-production form, but these shots reveal the finished look aside from the fake grille to fool ‘real’ spy photographers. The Tiguan has changed little since it was unveiled in concept form at the Los Angeles show last November and save for a bit of disguise around the lights VW isn’t leaving much to the imagination.

Vauxhall's World Environment Day Initiative

By Ben Oliver Motor Industry 05 June 2007 06:43 Vauxhall is using World Environment Day to launch its latest green initiative - a hefty £1000 discount off your new car if you agree to scrap your old one. The incentive applies to all makes of trade-in, but only if you’re buying one of Vauxhall’s most efficient Corsa, Astra, Meriva or Zafira models. Which means no discounts on a VXR8.

BMW X5 M Sport (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 05 June 2007 10:37 Wait! Let me guess - a fast X5? You're very good.