Vintage 1955 1956 Chevy Chevrolet Bel Air Horn Button Emblem 3712998 on 2040-parts.com

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz SL

The new high-tech, low weight Mercedes SL roadster receives its official global unveil next week in Detroit but Car Design News got an early peek of the final production car and had a chat with its designers at Mercedes' US advanced design studio in Carlsbad, California back in November. "We want to get back to clean, long-lasting design," director of Mercedes global advanced design and SL project leader, Steffen Kohl told CDN at the exclusive preview of the sixth-generation model. "So the new SL is long, sleek and still full of tension in the feature lines but less wedgy." In a short presentation Kohl felt all SLs became successfully iconic in their times because they followed two key rules – ‘sensuality' and ‘cleanness' – but alluded that the first rule may have been lost in more recent eras.

Audi Q3 price and specifications revealed for the UK

Audi Q3 starts bat £24,560 Audi’s baby Q – the Audi Q3 – has been a long time coming, but with UK orders opening up next month (June 2011) Audi has revealed prices and specs for the Q3 in the UK. Starting point will be £24,560 for the 2.0 litre TDI SE (the boring-looking Audis no one buys) with manual ‘box, rising to £31,360 for the 2.0 litre TFSI Quattro S Line with 7-Speed S-Tronic ‘box. Four engines will be available at launch – well, two engines each with two different power outputs.

Miko's high performance material with an ecological edge

Italian company Miko specializes in the development and production of Dinamica, a high quality ecological microfiber that can be used for anything from car door panels or upholstery to fashion accessories. The faux suede material is produced from a combination of recycled polyester and polyurethane fibers, and is also 100 percent recyclable at the end of its lifecycle. Lorenzo Terraneo, CEO of Miko, says: "Our priority has always been to invest in the research and development of recycled and eco-compatible materials with special characteristics that go far beyond existing qualitative standards." It is a testament to Terraneo's commitment that his company achieved its early aspirations and eco credentials long before concern for the environment and the reduction of carbon emissions was high on the political agenda or prevalent in the public conscience.