Alfa Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport launched

The Alfa Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport Don’t get barkingly excited, this isn’t a barn-storming MiTo in the mould of the much anticipated – but not yet materialised – MiTo GTA. It is in fact a Limited Edition Alfa MiTo based on the MiTo Turismo with £1,610 worth of extras bolted on and available with a petrol or oil burning engine. The extras over the MiTo Turismo spec – which already includes stuff like AirCon and Alfa’s DNA – include 16″ alloys, Cruise, Spoiler, Blue & Me and multi-function wheel.

Contest: Volkswagen Slipstream wins 2007 LA Design Challenge

Volkswagen's Slipstream concept has won the fourth annual Design Challenge competition, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designer's conference. The award was presented during the second press day of the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.  The theme of this year's competition, RoboCar of 2057, asked eight automotive design studios in California to form their vision of the future by depicting a vehicle that incorporates artificial intelligence engineered to make life easier and more attractive to consumers 50 years from now. Designers entered two-dimensional renderings and concept descriptions predicting how the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence will integrate into the automobile to make life safer, more practical and attractive, and the entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based on its originality of creative concept, integration of robotics and level of adaptation to a variety of environmental conditions and consumer needs.

TVR goes off the rails

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 02 January 2007 03:25 British sportscar manufacturer TVR is fighting for survival after crashing into administration over Christmas. Blackpool Automotive Ltd, TVR's manufacturing arm, has stopped building cars at the Blackpool HQ, its home since 1947. Around 250 members of staff stayed at home this week, waiting to discover their fate.