Toyota Probox 2005 Left Head Light Assembly [0210900] on 2040-parts.com

Video: Rendering a Le Mans racer using layer masks and pixel locking in Photoshop

Local Motors' designer and community manager Aurel Francois has made this short video explaining how he created his 'Alpine A444' render for the Le Mans Themed Sketchwall Challenge. His side view may be simple in terms of perspective but by using layer masks and pixel locking in Photoshop, the blue race car soon comes to life. Worth a watch of you're looking to get to grips with computer rendering techniques.

Mini Cooper Countryman gets New York freshening

The Mini Countryman has undergone a subtle midlife facelift for the New York auto show, four years after it was launched in North America. The lightly reworked range-topping Mini Countryman model is expected to go on sale in July at prices company officials suggest will remain largely unchanged here in the U.S. As this first batch of official photographs reveals, there is very little to distinguish the refreshed Countryman from the existing model.

Range Rover Evoque heads for the Dakar Rally

Range Rover Evoque Dakar Rally Land Rover are pretty chuffed with the way the new Range Rover Evoque has been received; feedback from the trade is hugely positive and buyers are queueing up to grab the Evoque – even with its premium prices. So the news that the British Excite Rally Raid Team will be running the Evoque in the Dakar rally will be a nice bit of off-road gloss to add to the street cred the Evoque already has in spades. The Dakar Rally is the world’s toughest car competition, run over gruelling terrain between Paris and Dakar.