Faro Vespa Scooter Light Years 1956-1959. on 2040-parts.com

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.

Concept Car of the Week: Italdesign Machimoto (1986)

The Machimoto might look and sound like a Japanese concept, but it was developed in Europe in the Turin-based Italdesign studio, and was based on a Volkswagen Golf GTI platform. The name actually derives from MACHIna (car in Italian) and MOTOciclo (motorcycle) as the perfect hybrid between the worlds of two- and four-wheelers. Unveiled on its home turf at the Turin motor show in 1986, it landed like a UFO, shocking both the public and the press.

CES: Welcome to the four-ringed, self-driving future

According to Ricky Hudi, the head of electronics development at Audi, "Ninety percent of automotive innovations today are due to electronics." He should know. He's working on that final piece of the puzzle that elevates our Traffic Assist and Lane Assist and Park Assist and Whiz-Bang Assist into a cohesive package that, yes, gives us the self-driving cars our commuters and slackers have always wanted. Audi believes that we will be saved by technology.