Engine Coolant Filter Wix 24070 on 2040-parts.com

Happy 80th Birthday, Syd Mead!

Take a poll among car designers to name their greatest influence, and one name is sure to appear at the top of the list: Syd Mead. The car designer, illustrator and futurist has inspired generations of the men and women who shape the cars we drive or admire. Syd has created the designs for the movies Blade Runner and Tron, while the illustrations published in his books such as Oblagon and Sentury (sought-after collector items today) depict the vision of a future dominated by superior technology and aesthetics.

BMW Concept X4 (2013) first pictures of baby X6 coupe-SUV

This is the BMW Concept X4, which borrows the idea of an SUV with coupe proportions from its X6 brother, and shrinks the template down to the size of an X3. But don't be fooled by the 'Concept' tag of this car – like the Concept 4-series coupe we saw in 2012, the X4 is very much confirmed for production, and will receive only detail styling tweaks before it goes on sale in mid-2014. It'll be built alongside the X3, X5 and X6 models at BMW's Spartanburg factory in the USA from early 2014.

McLaren MP4-12C (2011): new testing video

McLaren has issued this new video of its 2011 MP4-12C in the final phases of testing – and McLaren claims it's faster than the 458 Italia or any Gallardo. Watch the video in our player at the foot of this page.The matt black vinyl disguise demarks this pair of cars as the latest McLaren 'XP Beta' test cars, compared with the earlier black-and-white 'XP' prototypes spied last year.'XP Beta' prototypes? All very McLaren!Quite.