Polais Snowmobile Windshield (5435639) on 2040-parts.com

Ford, Lawrence Tech offer design scholarships

The next Camilo Pardo might hail from Lawrence Technological University. In the Designing for the Future contest, Ford Motor Co. and Michigan's Lawrence Tech are challenging high school seniors to compete for more than $75,000 in scholarships to the school's transportation and industrial-design programs.

Land Rover Defender Harris Tweed (2012) prototype

Here's a curious mix of classic Britishness and modern modifications: a Kahn-tuned Land Rover Defender fitted with a butch bodykit, enormous multispoke wheels and knobbly tyres and - inside -tweed-trimmed bucket seats. It's like a Spitfire wearing a Damien Hurst-penned livery. This is, to give the car its full title, the Kahn Defender Concept 17 Wide Body - Harris Tweed Prototype.

Could Michelin’s Active Wheel truly transform the car?

Cars today have evolved and been refined to an extraordinary degree, but carmakers – and car designers – are still always looking for ‘the next big thing'. Yet despite a myriad of recent technical innovations, ask the man on the street what is the problem with cars of today, and he'll likely reply along the lines of "they all look the same". Mass production processes, packaging requirements and safety and regulatory constraints are just a few of the reasons why it is hard to make a car that looks truly different.