Corvette Front Spoiler, Left, 1984-1990 on 2040-parts.com

Win an internship in VW's design contest

Volkswagen is offering students a chance to design a video game car for a contest. Three winners get a six-month internship at the VW design department in Wolfsburg, Germany. Students working in fields of interior and exterior design, interface design, graphic design and color and trim design can submit concepts.

Kia goes (dark) green

By Jesse Crosse Motor Industry 23 September 2008 11:00 Kia has unveiled a portfolio of new environmental technologies, including a 1.4-litre Ceed with stop-start (due in the UK in 2009), a Ceed hybrid and the latest version of its fuel cell-powered Sportage. The Korean manufacturer is investing heavily in research and development and will increase its spend on R&D from £2.2 billion this year to £2.6 billion by 2010, combined with a 40 percent increase in manpower at its research centres around the globe. The money is being spent on developing downsized, turbocharged engines, efficiency improvements to conventional engines such as friction reduction and the separation of accessories like water pumps from the engine.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will unveil its new Phantom Drophead Coupe at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday 7 January. A number of features first seen on 100EX, the experimental concept shown by Rolls-Royce in 2004, have been engineered into the new Phantom Drophead Coupe. Two of the most visually striking of these are the brushed steel bonnet and A-pillar and the teak decking for the rear hood cover.