McLaren Special Operations: Bespoke bits for your McLaren

McLaren Special Operations - your McLaren, your way We reported last week that McLaren had taken a customised MP4-12C to Pebble Beach and that it heralded the start of ‘McLaren Exclusive’ to customise customer cars. We were close, but its actually McLaren Special Operations -  and not McLaren Exclusive –  that’s doing the customising. But the principle is the same; McLaren will do pretty much anything you want done to your McLaren – as they always have – but with the McLaren Road Car division growing all the time it will all now come under the banner of the new  McLaren Special Operations division.

2014 Ford Focus: OFFICIAL

The 2014 Ford Focus Facelift revealed The Ford Focus is already one of the best cars in its class, but the 2014 version of the Focus – revealed today officially after a leak over the weekend – looks set to make the new Focus even more appealing. The most obvious visual change is the adoption of the Aston Martin grill that now adorns the nose of Ford’s latest models, and that is enhanced with a new front bumper, re-profiled bonnet, slimmer headlight and a tweak to the tailgate with new lights too. Inside, the new Focus loses many of the buttons that are scattered around the current model to be replaced by controls run through the touchscreen, a new steering wheel, thicker carpets and thicker glass for better sound insulation, new sliding integrated arm rest, satin black trim and chrome detailing and the arrival of Ford’s connected SYNC 2.

Fitness-focused autonomous vehicle pedals to victory in Interior Motives Design Awards

Earlier tonight, on the eve of the first Paris Motor Show press day, the world's top designers and automotive journalists assembled at L'Espace Clacquesin in Paris to witness sponsors Ford and Volkswagen announce the 2014 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Life Cycle' by Jason Chen and Dirk Wan of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, USA. Launched in January of this year and themed ‘Beyond Styling: a Design for Life', the competition asked students to create projects around three diverse but specific briefs: ‘Beyond Autonomous', which posed the question of what would happen if we were to combine the latest developments in computing and robotics with automobile design; ‘An Interior for Life', in which students were asked to focus on one feature or element of a car's interior and adapt it for dual use in a user's ordinary life; and ‘Pickup Truck of 2030', which challenged the young designers to extrapolate what the future might hold for this popular and versatile mode of transport. This year's contest attracted more than 200 entries from students based at 57 schools in 24 different countries.