Viper 479v Viper Responder Remote on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: IAD Alien (1986)

Established in 1976 as a railway and aeronautical engineering company, Britain's IAD (International Automotive Design) rapidly oriented its expertise towards the automotive industry providing services from design to chassis engineering and even small-scale production. By the mid-80s two concepts had been presented – the TRX and the Arrival – that showed innovative thinking and tastefulness but a little innocuous styling. In an attempt to attract both attention and more clients, IAD CEO John Shute asked his team to design a futuristic concept that was both innovative and different.

BMW 1 Series Lifestyle & BMW 1 Series Sport revealed

The BMW 1 Series Lifestyle - available as a 118d or a 120i First up is the BMW 1 Series Lifestyle, which gets a Marakesh Brown paint job (BMW’s favourite colour it would seem at the moment – the new BMW X1 cars are all showing up in that colour), interior components in matching colour, chrome tipped exhaust and 17″ alloys. The second limited edition is the BMW 1 Series Sport, which gets an M-Sports package (including sports suspension, steering wheel and gearlever), unique double-spoke alloys and stainless steel pedals. Both the 1 Series Limited Editions will be available in either 3 or 5 door versions, and you can have either the 2.0 litre petrol – 170bhp and 0-60mph in 7.8 seconds – or the 2.0 litre diesel – 143bhp and 0-60mph in 9 seconds.

Kia preparing a range of sporting models

Kia is quietly readying a string of sportier models to pep up its humdrum image, CAR has learned. The burgeoning sports car plan is likely to sire everything from hot hatches to standalone sports cars. On our trip to Korea this week, sources at Kia HQ confirmed a range of performance models, designed to mix some excitement into a brand that now commands respect from mainstream buyers after its crawl upmarket to the volume market alongside Europe's mass-market brands.