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After much hype (and one van), Mazda rethinks design plan

After four years of hyping its curvy, fluid Nagare styling philosophy--but developing only one production vehicle with the look--Mazda has changed design course. Now the Japanese carmaker wants to go with a simpler, more upscale style. So the design language seen in the Shinari concept car being unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show this week represents Mazda's future.

One Lap of the Web: World's strangest Edsel Pacer, racing Corvettes and 10 automotive missteps

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- The Edsel didn't win many style awards as a passenger car, but how do you feel about it as a piece of heavy construction equipment?

Skoda MissionL Concept revealed – the Skoda Lauretta, perhaps?

Skoda MissionL Concept - destined to be the Skoda Lauretta Skoda is on a mission to push its sales through the roof in the next year or seven – aiming for 1.5 million sales, no less, by 2018 –  and part of that strategy is to fill the gap in its range between the Fabia and Octavia. So it’s a good thing the Skoda MissionL Concept fits the bill. Not that we have a great deal to go on with the MissionL Concept, as all Skoda have done so far is send us a short press release and the teaser photo above (which was a lot darker until we sent it through Photoshop).