Video: Hennessey Venom GT now unofficial fastest production car

The Hennessey Venom GT hit its top speed of 270.49 mph last week at the Kennedy Space Center, edging out the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's previous 269.86 mph record. Hennessey and Bugatti have been battling for the top spot of "fastest production car in the world," and this time America came out on top. Hennessey attempted a record run in 2013, reaching a top speed of 265.7 mph before running out of room on the 2.9-mile-long runway at the Naval Air Station in California.

Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer estate (2010) unveiled

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 16 June 2010 00:01 Vauxhall has slid the covers off the new Astra Sports Tourer – a mini-me, shrunken Insignia estate for less money. The two share plenty of character and were both penned under GM Europe's design boss, Mark Adams.Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer: the lowdownThe new 2010 Astra estate puts the ultimate accent on cool looks over practicality, and its vital stats suggest it's a bit of a slouch in the sofa-shifting game. The 2685mm wheelbase is identical to the hatchback's, so the boot space stands at 500 litres, only 30 litres more than the hatch with the seats up.FlexFold (optional on lower models) lets you flop each 60:40 split rear seat down at the press of a button; stow all the rear seats flat and boot space soars to a more acceptable 1550 litres.

Peter Stevens and Julian Thomson lead a discussion on the past, present and future of car design

As part of its sponsorship of London's Clerkenwell Design Week, Jaguar and the Royal College of Art brought together three generations of the design school to discuss the past, present and possible future of car design. Held in a suitably grimy warehouse in east London – with the sculpture by RCA students Ewan Gallimore and Claire Mille's we showed you earlier this week sat outside – Professor Dale Harrow, dean of the School of Design and head of its Vehicle Design program introduced Professor Peter Stevens, Julian Thomson, Jaguar's advanced design director and Alexandra Palmowski project designer advanced colour and material at Jaguar took the audience through their careers. Charismatic as ever, Peter Stevens kicked off proceedings that moved chronologically through the decades by explaining how he first became interested in "the art if car design, allied to the science of how they work" through his artistic parents and uncle – journalist and motoring adventurer – Denis Jenkinson during the 1950s and 60s.