BMW Vision ConnectedDrive (2011) first pictures

This gorgeous two-seat roadster is the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive, set to be unveiled at the 2011 Geneva motor show. Unlike some of BMW’s other Vision-tagged concept cars, this unfortunately isn’t a thinly disguised production car, but a study designed to highlight the company’s driver assistance systems.  However, although BMW has released no details on the engine or layout under the sexy skin, thankfully the Vision ConnectedDrive’s stunning styling (including the shark nose, wrap-around rear lights and layered body) will find its way onto future production BMWs.  For a start sensors in the headlamps and rear lights monitor the traffic situation and the environment around the car, while instead of wing mirrors there are antennas that receive navigation data and transmit other information. Inside the driver has a 3D head-up display, and the system can project information about the chosen sat-nav route so it appears at the exact point of a possible turn-off. The 3D system also displays information in the foreground or background of the display depending on its relevance.

Mercedes C 63 AMG Coupé drifting at Laguna Seca (Video)

Mercedes C 63 AMG Coupé drifting at Laguna Seca To celebrate 2 million views on their YouTube Channel, AMG has taken a C 63 AMG Coupe for a bit of a blat round the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. Car makers are slowly waking up to the joys of the Interweb as a way to promote their wares, and they’re all busy feeding their Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube channels with new content to keep fans amused. It’s never exactly the most unbiased content so it often needs taking with a pinch of Maldon’s finest, but YouTube, in particular, gives car makers the chance to showcase their cars in action, and if they can do that and makes ‘fans’ feel a part of it, so much the better.

Cars, Culture and the City

When you think of American cities associated with the car it is Los Angeles of course that leaps first to mind, thanks mostly to Hollywood, and Detroit second. But New York turns out to have been vital in the history of car design, as I found researching an exhibition Cars, Culture and the City at the Museum of the City of New York as guest curator over the last few months, working with the museums curator architecture and design, Donald Albrecht. The show has just opened, on March 25.