Nos 1968-1969 Ford Torino Turn Signal Lens Lh C8oz-13209-b on 2040-parts.com

An Audience with Syd Mead at CCS

"Visual futurist and concept artist." Like some sort of Transformer, those words combine to create an ideal job description for many an industrial designer. With the world of design becoming more varied, and our jobs becoming more demanding of diversity, it's no surprise that many of us venture into adjacent professions. Industrial Design has adapted especially well recently to Hollywood, bringing our experience to recent films like Avatar and Prometheus, but the trend actually goes back several decades.

One Lap of the Web: The Weird World of Wheels

-- Introducing the greatest television show you've never heard of: "Operation: Mystery!" Imagine if the "X-Files" took place in 1960s Japan, and had its own cool custom car the heroes rolled around in: the Tortoise, a pudgy little thing that resembled the unholy combination of an Opel GT and a Dustbuster. It was bulletproof (not really), had gullwing doors (really) and was based on a Subaru 360 (really!). Sadly, its whereabouts are unknown, and it might have disappeared into the ether along with the UFOs its heroes probably investigated.

Peugeot 308 R concept (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

The Peugeot 308 R could be the biggest hint yet that Peugeot is getting its mojo back. Carrying the RCZ concept’s styling into production was a good start, and the new 208 GTi is a pleasantly surprising hoot, but for bigger smiles you’ll want this: a 270bhp, carbonfibre-clad hot hatch that’ll give an Audi S3 a fright, and leave a Golf GTI in its tyre tracks. The catch?