Classic Lotus Cortina owner wins £5,000 fund

A LUCKY Lotus Cortina owner has won a £5,000 prize to make improvements and restorations to his car. Pete Shaw was awarded the prize by Footman James classic car insurance at last month’s Classic Motor Show. His beloved 1966 Mk1 Airflow Lotus Cortina had been entered into the competition with much-needed work on the cards.

Autodesk Automotive Days - Munich 2009

Autodesk's Automotive Days design conferences, launched in Munich in 2008, have highlighted the key growth area of digital prototyping. And at last month's conference the focus was once again broadened to include coverage of conceptual design and creative visualization (at the very beginning of the design process) and design for manufacture - at the culmination of the process. Speakers from Autodesk outlined the innovative features of their latest product suites, while keynote presentations from leading automotive designers such as Frank Stephenson of McLaren and Volvo's Rickard Franklin showed in fascinating detail how the benefits of these software systems were being maximized in busy corporate design studios.

New Jeep Renegade arrives: Geneva Motor Show

The new Jeep Renegade debuts at Geneva There’s plenty of choice if you want an compact faux SUV for the urban jungle, but the new Jeep Renegade – revealed at the Geneva Motor Show – promises to be able to do real off-road stuff as well as be a City warrior. Reviving a historic Jeep name, the new Renegade gets styling that shouts traditional Jeep – from its boxy shape, square wheel arches and upright look – and, even though it’s based on the underpinnings of the Fiat 500L (and the soon to arrive Fiat 500X), it conspires to be all American despite its Italian roots and diminutive size. Despite the rather retro look, the modern underpinnings borrowed from the 500L promise to be an effective basis for a compact Jeep, especially as Jeep has modified the setup to offer all independent suspension.