Festival of the Unexceptional: the bad cars we love

Ever been to a classic car show and noticed how many old MGBs and sports cars of yesteryear have turned up, driven by their proud owners, but wondered what happened to all the more mainstream stuff? There are twice as many Ferrari 308 GTBs on the roads in the UK than Austin Allegros, because the everyday cars of the past fail MOTs, get chucked away and replaced with shiny new hatchbacks. Fortunately, there is a select group of people in the UK who care for the mundane stuff of yesterday and, because of this, a new event for “unexceptional” cars will be taking place this summer.

Nissan unveils new generation 'black cab'

NISSAN has unveiled its new ‘black cab’, adapted specifically for London and designed to win business from cabbies looking for a more reliable, more functional and less polluting vehicle. This year, emissions legislation will force many older taxis off the road, and noting the financial struggles of Manganese Bronze, the makers of the traditional black cab, Nissan has seen the opportunity to muscle in on the market. The famous London taxi design has come in for much criticism from cabbies for its unrefined drive, patchy reliability and questionable cabin ergonomics.

How CATIA helped to create the SilverBull concept bike

Dassault Systèmes' latest CATIA has helped a French industrial designer to realize his concept bike, SilverBull. Strate Collège graduate Marc Boulangé set out to create a concept that would integrate both engineering and design into a finished product that would showcase the qualities of both disciplines. Boulangé calls his vision of design ‘Mechanical Poetry', and has described how it is thanks to CATIA technology that his cherished SilverBull project came to creation.