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McLaren worker critical after crash

A MCLAREN WORKER was left critically injured after the supercar he was driving crashed and left him impaled on a fence post in West Sussex The man, who has not been identified, left the A285 at Duncton and rolled in a car reported to be a McLaren 650S. Sussex Police said he was airlifted from the crash site to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, with critical injuries. A spokesman for Woking-based McLaren said his family were with him in hospital, adding: "Our thoughts are with our friend and colleague, and his family." A message on McLaren's Facebook page said: "We are all thinking of our friend and colleague following a serious accident on Friday.

Koenigsegg One:1 loaded up for the Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Koenigsegg One:1 ready to load up for Goodwood We revealed last month that the Koenigsegg One:1 – Koenigsegg’s new MegaCar – would be heading for its UK debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. But Koenigsegg – and it’s UK dealer, Supervettura – aren’t just turning up with a single One:1 static display. Oh, no.

Theory test fee to fall

LEARNER drivers will have to fork out less for their theory tests - saving would-be motorists around £100 million over the next decade. The cost of a theory test is being slashed by 25% in October, taking the cost down from £31 to £25, and with a further drop of £2 lined up for October next year. Theory test fees for motorbikes and other vehicles are also set to be cut, a spokesman said.

Range Rover Sport RS (2014) - Land Rover's preview video

The high-performance new Range Rover Sport RS, to be revealed at this week's 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, has been previewed by Land Rover in this new video above. The teaser video shows the hot Range Rover Sport on test at the Nurburgring. It's the first go-faster Land Rover to emerge from the new Special Operations division launched earlier in June 2014.

Seat Leon X-perience (2015): first photos of Seat’s Allroad

By Jonny Edge First Official Pictures 23 June 2014 12:18 Seat has become the latest member of the Volkswagen family to unveil a stylised off-road version of a small estate car with the introduction of its new Leon X-Perience, coming to showrooms in 2015. Based on the existing Leon ST, the X-Perience is perhaps better thought of as a trim level more than an entirely new model. In essence, it’s Seat’s answer to the Audi Allroad.

Ferrari F12 TRS revealed – but you can’t buy it

The one-off Ferrari F12 TRS When your pockets are deep enough, the special operation divisions of the world’s luxury and supercar makers are your playground. And one Ferrari client has spent a repute £2.5 million to create a one-off F12 – the Ferrari F12 TRS – twice the price of LaFerrari. Still obviously a Ferrari F12, the F12 TRS gets a pretty dramatic makeover, inspired by the 1967 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, from Ferrari Special Projects, design chief Flavio Manzoni and the Ferrari Style Centre.

This year's Pilkington Glass Awards winners announced at RCA grad show

Last week's Royal College of Art graduation exhibition (full report coming soon) also played host to the 27th annual Pilkington Vehicle Design Awards, with four students acknowledged by the glass making company. The Best Use of Glazing award was won by Jannis Carius' Bentley project, while Alexander Ibbett picked up prize for Best Design Interpretation with his 'downloadable' car. Meanwhile Alexander Brink and Nick Dunderdale were commended in the design interpretation category.

SEAT Leon X-Perience is a high-riding Leon ST Crossover

SEAT goes butch with the SEAT Leon X-Perience. SEAT seems to be launching the Leon X-Perience as a precursor to the arrival of a proper SEAT SUV in a year or two to get buyers used to the idea that SEAT can produce butch crossovers. That said, the SEAT Leon X-Perience is a valid standalone model – much in the mould of cars like Audi’s Allroad, the Citroen C5 CrossTourer and VW Passat Alltrack – as a butched-up estate car with some off-road pretensions and better equipped to deal with the urban jungle too.

The Designers, Pt7 – Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group

Car Design News launched its first-ever Car Design Review yearbook at the Geneva Motor Show, featuring the award-winning Production Car and Concept Car Designs of 2013. If you're interested in buying a copy of the 160-page yearbook this interview appears in, alongside trend reports, bespoke car design infographics and a special feature on Marcello Gandini, our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Car Design Review can be purchased here. Name Ralph GillesRole VP design, Chrysler GroupAge, nationality 44, USLocation Michigan, USAEducation Center for Creative Studies, Detroit "Watching the Cherokee be born in 2013 was a very radical design departure for Jeep.

Mazda Wins Big At 2014 Which? Awards

JAPANESE car maker Mazda has been named ‘Best Car Manufacturer’ at the recent 2014 Which? Awards. The awards are allocated to those companies that consistently get it right for consumers.

Logbook loans signal increasing debt risk

CONSUMERS who buy second-hand cars are at risk of unwittingly inheriting debts taken out by the previous owner that could end up with their vehicle being seized, Citizens' Advice is warning. The charity said one in five people who reported a problem to it about “logbook loans”, where a person places their car as security against a loan, ended up having their car repossessed – despite not being the one who borrowed the money. Citizens' Advice warned someone who buys a car which is still the subject of an outstanding logbook loan taken out by a previous owner could end up being chased for the debt – leaving them with the choice of making the repayments or having their vehicle repossessed.

Ferrari F12 TRS: the one-off made for the 2014 Ferrari Cavalcade

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 23 June 2014 10:25 This Ferrari F12 TRS is a new one-off Ferrari F12 barchetta shown at the weekend's Ferrari Cavalcade, a parade of 90 prancing horses on the Italian island of Sicily. It just goes to show that for the wealthiest customers, even a £239,000 Ferrari coupe isn't good enough...  An anonymous Ferrari owner commissioned the bespoke model, which is based on the F12 Berlinetta and said to be inspired by the 1957 250 Testa Rossa. It's an 'extreme, two-seater, open-top sports barchetta,' says Maranello.

Elemental RP1 track-focused sports car revealed

The Elemental RP1 revealed ahead of Goodwood FoS At the beginning of the month we ran a tease from a new start-up car maker teasing their track-focused sports car – the Elemental RP1 – and now, ahead of its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week, Elemental have done the full reveal of the RP1. Due to be ready to sell by this time next year, Elemental bravely proclaim the RP1 as previewing a new generation of world class British sports cars, and the spec does at least offer more than a hollow promise, fingers crossed and lots of hype. Based on a lightweight carbon and aluminium tub wrapped in body panels to fully enclose the underpinnings, has double wishbone suspension with inboard Eibach springs and Nitron dampers, 4-pot Caparo calipers and 17″ alloys.

Elemental RP1 sports car (2014): first pictures of Britain’s newest track car

By Jonny Edge First Official Pictures 23 June 2014 15:58 The frighteningly lightweight Elemental RP1 emerged fully for the first time today, ahead of its public debut at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014. At its heart, the 450kg RP1 has a unique carbon-composite tub based on the designs of contemporary race cars. The driver will sit 'feet up', allowing for greater underfloor downforce, which goes some way to explaining how the car achieves a quoted 200kg of downforce at 100mph.

Vehicles recalled amid airbags fear

JAPANESE car giants Honda, Mazda and Nissan are recalling millions of vehicles worldwide amid fears that a defect in airbags manufactured by supplier Takata Corp could cause them to explode. No accidents have been reported. Honda recalled 2.03 million vehicles over the airbag problem, including 1.02 million vehicles in North America and nearly 669,000 in Japan.

CCTV 'Spy cars' to be banned

CCTV "SPY CARS" used to catch people who park illegally is to be banned, the Government announced, marking a victory for drivers and shoppers. The move will rein in "greedy councils" who use the method of fining as a "cash cow", and bring to an end the "plague" of tickets being issued by post. Parking wardens will instead have to fix tickets directly to windscreens, making it illegal for councils to issue penalties to drivers using just the CCTV spy cars currently used for on-street parking enforcement.

Warning over minicab 'free-for-all'

RAPE AND sex assaults could rise due to plans to allow minicab owners to lend their vehicles out to anyone when not at work, police bosses have warned. A cross-party group of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales said planned deregulation will lead to a "free-for-all". Currently, only licensed private hire drivers can drive a marked private hire vehicle, drivers have to be regularly re-licensed and there are restrictions on vehicles operating across local authority boundaries.

Festival of Speed: onboard with David Coulthard up the Goodwood hill

If you’re able to arrive early enough on Thursday for Goodwood’s Moving Motor Show you might just be able to book yourself a slot to drive up the famous hillclimb course with one of the many manufacturers displaying their cars. Few mere mortals get the opportunity to drive up the hallowed tarmac at Goodwood – it’s more often reserved for F1 aces and motorsport heroes, such as a certain David Coulthard. In this video from Mercedes-Benz, DC takes us on a guided tour up the hillclimb, corner by corner behind the wheel of a suitably glam Merc SLS Black Series.

New Ford Focus ST at Goodwood Festival of Speed – and a diesel version too (video)

The new Ford Focus ST teased The facelift for the Ford ST facelift has started, with Ford releasing a single image (above) of the new ST which will be on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week, taking to the Goodwood Hillclimb in the ‘First Glance’ category. The basic facelift fodder for the new ST is what we saw earlier this year when the rest of the Focus range got a facelift, with a few new panels, bumpers, grill and lights marking out the old from the new. Ford is being coy about any power updates for the new ST, but it seems likely it will stick with the same 247bhp 2.0 litre as the current model and the same output.

Video: Rendering a Le Mans racer using layer masks and pixel locking in Photoshop

Local Motors' designer and community manager Aurel Francois has made this short video explaining how he created his 'Alpine A444' render for the Le Mans Themed Sketchwall Challenge. His side view may be simple in terms of perspective but by using layer masks and pixel locking in Photoshop, the blue race car soon comes to life. Worth a watch of you're looking to get to grips with computer rendering techniques.

Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying: WILLIAMS front row – Massa on pole

Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg – the front three in Austria The writing was perhaps on the wall for the Mercedes domination of the 2014 F1 season after the Canadian Grand Prix, and the writing is now loud and proud for Williams as they lock out the front row for the Austrian Grand Prix tomorrow. Massa has taken pole – his first pole for six years – with team mate Valtteri Bottas just 0.087 seconds behind as Williams took advantage of errors from Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, which also compromised Nico Rosberg, creating a Williams front row in the process. Hamilton’s first run didn’t count because he took all four wheels over the white line at turn eight, and he skidded out on his next quick lap, leaving him dead last in final qualifying but starting ninth after Nico Hulkenberg’s disqualification.

Concept Car of the Week: Pininfarina Peugette (1976)

Unveiled in 1972, the Peugeot 104 was a compact car with a simple and honest design by Paolo Martin. The most powerful ZS model was more of a warm hatch than a hot one, but it did feature a 1124cc engine with 66bhp. Thanks to the car's weight of only 760kg, the car could reach speeds of up to 100mph - terrifying in a 104.

New Mercedes C-Class Estate price and specs – costs from £28,055

The new Mercedes C-Class Estate (pictured) costs from £28,055 The second variant of the new C-Class – the 2015 Mercedes C-Class Estate – was revealed last month offering proper load-lugging abilities together with the C-Class’s mini S-Class goodness. Now, with the new C-Class Estate due to arrive in the UK in September, Mercedes has revealed prices and specs for the initial launch range. Just three versions will be available at launch – the C 200, C 220 BlueTec and C 250 BlueTec – with the C 220 and C 250 sharing different power versions of Mercedes’ 2.1 litre diesel and the C 200 getting the 2.0 litre petrol.

Mercedes C-Class Estate (2014) prices to start from £28k

By Tom Gregory First Official Pictures 20 June 2014 11:15 The new Mercedes C-class Estate will go on sale in September 2014, priced from £28,055 for the 184bhp 2.0-litre C200 petrol. Available with a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearbox, the C200 is capable of 51.4mpg and produces 128g/km CO2. Diesel is massively important in the hard-fought executive wagon sector and the 2014 Mercedes C-class Estate comes with a choice of two 2.1-litre BlueTEC engines to begin with.

Government’s Cash For Potholes Plan Gets Underway

MORE than three million potholes will be filled in by March next year as part of the biggest investment in roads since the 1970s. The Government has set aside £168 million to mend the nation's broken roads, spread across 148 councils. Each council will get a share, but extra money will be given to those which demonstrate "best practice in highways maintenance", including bringing in specialist machinery or setting up dedicated repair teams.

Tennis star Sharapova gets a lift from Porsche racer Webber

FRENCH OPEN tennis champion Maria Sharapova arrived at a pre-Wimbledon party thanks to Australian race Mark Webber The Porsche 918 Spyder is the most powerful road car, and least polluting, the company has built. The plug-in hybrid super sports car can reach a top speed of 214 mph, sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, and it produces so little CO2 that it is exempt from the London congestion charge. Webber arrived fresh from his first outing at the Le Mans 24 hour race with new team Porsche, following his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of last season.

Lexus To Launch Sporty RC F Coupe At Goodwwod Festival Of Speed

JAPANESE premium car maker Lexus is to mark its attendance at next week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed by unveiling its latest sports coupe, the RC F. Due for launch in 2015, the RC F’s public debut won’t be restricted to a static display, as the car will also be driven up the famous Goodwood hill over the course of the festival weekend. At the car’s heart is a 5.0-litre, 450 horsepower petrol V8 motor, while trick electronics ensure its remains stable despite the considerable power available at the driver’s disposal.

Nissan strengthens Brazil connections with new design studio

Nissan has opened a new design studio in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Located within Nissan Brazil's headquarters, Nissan Design America – Rio (NDA-R) is operated as a satellite of the firm's studio in San Diego, California. Since November 2013, Robert Bauer has been leading a small team at NDA-R with two Brazilian designers: one color and trim designer and one exterior designer.

M6 cafe voted top of the pit stops

TEBAY SERVICES on the M6 is the most popular place for a pit stop in the UK, a survey has found. The family-run service station in the Lake District that sells home-grown and local produce in its farm shop and restaurant achieved the top score of 90% in a survey of Which? members.

Jaguar to reveal first Jaguar Special Operations car at Goodwood Festival of Speed

A new Jaguar Special Operation car is heading for Goodwood (Jaguar Project 7 pictured) It’s not just the new high performance Range Rover Sport from JLR’s Special Operations division that’s arriving at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next week, we’re also getting a new Special Operations car from Jaguar. It’s exactly a year since the Jaguar Project 7 F-Type (pictured above) was revealed at Goodwood as a precursor to the sort of cars JLR has in mind for its new Special Operation division, and now we’re getting the first fruits of the new division for Jaguar at Goodwood this year, although Jaguar aren’t yet letting on what it will be. Could it be a short-run, high-price production version of the Project 7 car, or will it be something else?