Daihatsu Mira 1999 Front Bumper Assembly [8110100] on 2040-parts.com

Smart wins 2011 LA Design Challenge

Daimler's Smart division won this year's LA Design Challenge, the brief of which was to create ‘Hollywood's Hottest New Movie Car'. The entries were judged on how well the vehicle reflected its brand attributes relative to the plot, how the vehicle related to the target audience, and the level of imagination found within the entry. Befitting the ‘Hollywood movie car' theme, the uniqueness of the story concept and the character development of the vehicle were also factors that helped determine the overall winner.

Volkswagen give the VW XL1 Ducati power

Volkswagen give the VW XL1 Ducati power It’s more than two years since Volkswagen rolled out the VW XL1 Super Efficient Vehicle as a demonstration of how light weight and low power can make for extremely economical motoring. But the silly mpg VW quoted for the XL1 – 313mpg – comes at a fairly horrible price, with the news at Geneva this year that the XL1 is heading for limited production, but with a price tag likely to be around £100k. Bit it seems that VW has found a new use for the XL1, and this time it’s not about extreme economy but more about real performance.

Mercedes Concept GLA45 AMG unveiled at 2013 LA Motor Show

Take Mercedes’ compact GLA off-roader and combine it with the 2.0-litre turbo engine from the German firm’s A45 AMG scorching hot hatchback and what do you get? The 2013 Mercedes-Benz Concept GLA45 AMG 4x4. Making its debut at the 2013 Los Angeles Motor Show, thanks to that engine the hot Merc crossover boasts some impressive performance stats that’d embarrass some out-and-out sports cars.