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Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen TDI 4Motion concept: First look

The 2015 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen gets a North American preview at the New York auto show next week as a very lightly disguised TDI 4Motion concept. The production Golf station wagon will get either a 2.0-liter TDI turbocharged diesel or 1.8-liter turbocharged gasoline engine when it goes on sale in the U.S. in early 2015, but VW representatives wouldn't confirm whether a production 4Motion Golf Sportwagen would be offered.

Nissan 2020 Vision Gran Turismo concept

Nissan is the latest manufacturer to unveil a virtual concept car for Polyphony's Gran Turismo game, appropriately based on its GTR flagship.Designed by the team at Nissan Design Europe in London, the 2020 Vision Gran Turismo takes the broad themes of the GTR and transposes them into a far more extreme expression of its character. The vertical front and circular rear lamps are familiar, while the tapered DLO and bodyside graphic are also recognizable, but its proportions are new – wildly low and wide. Wilder still is its surfacing, with extreme offsets through its body section, layered aero elements and wheel arches that incorporate exhaust outlets behind the front wheels and a Gandini-like hexagonal rear graphic.The rear of the Visions Gran Turismo is dominated by the vast lower venturi to suck it to the (virtual) circuit and an equally dominant wing pressing it down, bracketed by the iconic four round lamps.

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.