Rinker Off White Starboard 17 1/4 X 11 3/4 In Boat Access / Hatch Lid 166784 on 2040-parts.com

Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment contest pits auto designers against Detroit talent

Local creative and design talent from outside and inside the car industry will go head-to-head in a multi-round competition for the title of Sketchmaster in the Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment (MSBE). To be held at an underground afterparty for the Auto Show Charity Preview on 17 January at the Kunsthalle Museum in Detroit, the self-styled car design fight club will be attended by industry leaders, designers from Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota and Tier One suppliers. Car enthusiasts, artists and designers from around the globe will also be present.

Nissan Juke-R – first picture

Nissan Juke-R - the first official picture from Nissan With all things in the car world seemingly focused on fluffy bunnies and green halos, it’s great to see Nissan pushing the envelope at the other end with the Nissan Juke-R, a bonkers version  of Nissan’s compact SUV with the heart of Godzilla – the Nissan GT-R. We first reported the Juke-R – which we dubbed ‘Super Juke’ - at the end of last month when we didn’t know whether the Juke-R would be a one-off or a production model. But within weeks Nissan had come out and confessed our Juke-R story was real and that they really were working on a monster Juke with the heart of a Nissan GT-R.

Nissan X-Trail (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Nissan X-Trail, which goes on UK sale in 2014. By offering a seven-seater option and an adaptive four-wheel-drive powertrain, Nissan is sounding the death-knell for its Qashqai+2 model: there’s to be a new, five-seater Qashqai next year. So, it better be good, the new X-Trail.