Roush Supercharger Pulley 85mm on 2040-parts.com

Aston Martin Zagato, Alfa Romeo take honors at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

A 1968 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale won the Trofeo BMW Group, given by the judges for the best in show at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, over the weekend. The Coppa d’Oro, for best in show as voted by the public, went to a 1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS. The Aston Martin V12 Zagato, created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the famous DB4 GT Zagato, won a design award for Best Concept Car or Prototype.

Ferrari P4/5 designer Castriota heads to Saab

Jason Castriota, the noted designer who created the Ferrari P4/5 and the Maserati GranTurismo, is taking his talents to Saab. He will be in charge of design for the Swedish automaker as it looks to develop a new image after being sold by former parent General Motors, Bloomberg News reports. Castriota will work on developing an upscale model of the 9-3 and will try to bolster Saab to better compete with BMW and Audi.

Driven: Lexus IS-F

The Lexus IS-F is a significant new design for one core reason: it introduces a performance sub-brand parallel to that of the M-cars from BMW, AMG from Mercedes-Benz, and the S and RS sub-brands from Audi. This then is Lexus making a logical next step to further encroach on the established German premium brands. BMW originated the premium brands' performance sub-brand with the 'M for Motorsport' M3 of 1986 (the M1 supercar of 1978 preceded that, but was a singular model, not a performance derivative).