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Petrol sales '25% lower than 2008'

Petrol sales have plunged in the first half of this year – but diesel sales have risen sharply. Retail petrol sales for the period January to June dipped 5.8% compared with the same period last year, Government figures highlighted by the AA showed. The numbers amount to a fall of 512 million litres.

Umea Institute of Design degree show 2010

Earlier this month, Car Design News attended Umea University's annual degree show. Covering student work from the MA Interaction Design, Advanced Product Design and Transport Design programs and the BA Industrial Design program, it was the first exhibition overseen by Umea's new Rector, Anna Valtonen, formerly head of Design Research & Foresight at Nokia. In a departure from the show's traditional format, this year saw keynotes and workshops spread over two days.

Ford once planned to race fiberglass-bodied Mustang touring cars

Tucked away on page nine of the May 9, 1964 issue of Competition Press and Autoweek is an intriguing little story: “FIA Rejects Ford Bid for Homolgation [sic].” At the time, the Mustang had just made its world debut, but Ford was already scheming to fold the car into its “Total Performance” campaign. The automaker apparently proposed to do so with a fleet of crazy fiberglass-bodied touring cars. According to Competition Press, Ford tried to get the new Mustang classified as a touring car for international racing.