Old Winfield Manifold #s68 Chevrolet on 2040-parts.com

Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.

Carlsson improves upon the Mercedes SL63 AMG

Not happy with only 518 hp and a 4.5-second 0-to-60-mph time from your shiny new Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG? Lucky for you, the German tuners from Carlsson are now offering performance-upgrade kits in the United States. Through GGI European Tuning in Miami--the exclusive North American importer of Carlsson parts--SL63 owners can massage their rides to churn out 600 hp and 520 lb-ft of torque and to handle better than stock.

BMW delays X3's U.S. launch to push custom orders

BMW is delaying the U.S. introduction of the redesigned X3 to launch a system designed to encourage buyers to custom-order the crossover to their specifications, says Jim O'Donnell, president of BMW of North America. The delay could put the X3 in U.S.