Volvo Penta / Evinrude Johnson # 3850601 Wrench Spanner Marine Service Tool on 2040-parts.com

Frankfurt 2011 - Best in Show

Given the array of new cars at motor shows, it's often difficult to pick one as the overall star of the show. While, in theory, there appears to have been a glut of new concept and production cars to choose from in Frankfurt, in reality there were less than a handful of marked standout designs. Here are our picks.

Mini Beachcomber Concept at Detroit motor show 2010

This funky beach-biased concept car has just appeared at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January. Called the Mini Beachcomber Concept, this flight-of-fancy Moke-inspired show car gives us our first glimpse of how Mini's production-spec 4x4 crossover will look at launch - we'll see the real car at the Geneva motor show in March 2010 ahead of an autumn UK launch. This four-seater, four-wheel-drive machine has been designed without doors or a conventional roof, so that its occupants are not cut off from the outside world.

College for Creative Studies provost, design guru dies

Imre Molnar, the longtime academic chief at the prestigious College for Creative Studies in Detroit, died Dec. 28 of a heart attack while bicycle riding in California, the school announced. He was 61 years old.