Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the MINI Paceman arrives on the block. With all the driving excitement of a Sports Activity Coupé, athleticism an elegance in equal measure, and an undeniably urban edge, this ground-breaking addition to the MINI stable rides comfortably on the intersection of design and functionality.

Choose from four strong engines and endless exterior and interior customisation options to configure the MINI Paceman to suit your design aesthetic. And with room for two more people in the back, you can take your friends out for a spin too. Or shoot off to the horizon and leave the urban jungle behind.
HIGHLIGHTS.

Utility meets artistry in this uniquely proportioned MINI. Ample ground clearance, semi-command seat position and an optional ALL4 all-wheel drive system all add to the practical side of the MINI Paceman. While this athletic new coupé handle anything you throw at it, its remarkable silhouette makes it look like modern art. Except it would be a waste to keep this car on display. It’s way too exciting to drive for that.
EXTERIOR DESIGN.

The distinguished MINI Paceman commands attention without looking like it’s trying. Elongated doors, sloping roofline and rising shoulders create elegance and athleticism, and brand new horizontal taillights give your pursuers something to look at as they try to catch up. Highly customisable, the MINI Paceman is available in eight body finishes, two roof colours and six light alloy wheels in four colours. So unleash your creativity, and make your MINI Paceman even more unique than it already is.
INTERIOR DESIGN.

The design story continues inside as elegance, athleticism and lounge atmosphere go toe-to-toe. If you hadn’t picked up on this street machine’s sheer length, the elongated ellipse that runs along the interior doors should do the trick. Personalise your MINI by choosing from a huge range of interior combinations, including six different upholsteries, three Colour Line options and four interior surfaces materials. No matter your style, you’ll find a design combination to match.

The Fiat 500 is beloved subject for many professional and amateur designers to express their creativity and skills. The 500 concept studies bundled under the Bellavista moniker that you see pictured here are the work of the students from the Polytechnic of Milan and Madeindreams.

The students developed two similar prototypes based on the Abarth 500. The first is a two-seater roadster model with a regular windshield, beefed up wheel arches, a double canopy behind the headrests and re-styled front and rear bumpers.

The second model we see in these designs is a more radical and sporty speedster-like variant with a cut-off windshield and small side windows. The rest of the car looks like it keeps the same bloated bodywork as the Roadster.

We recently featured the spectacular camouflage Lamborghini owened by Swedish professional freeskier and alpine ski racer Jon Olsson. Besides skiing Jon also has a huge interest for cars, his latest toy is this stunning Audi R8 Razor GTR conversion. Customized by PPI Automotive Design, it features a staggering 600 horsepower v10 engine and is equipped with a ski transporter box.

Pictures of a brand new variant of the Maserati GranCabrio have hit the web ahead of the car’s global premiere at next week’s 2012 Paris Motor Show.

The new model is the GranCabrio MC Stradale that is modeled after the GranTurismo MC Stradale and which joins the existing base and Sport variants of Maserati’s stylish four-seater convertible. Unfortunately, for now, we only have images of the GranCabrio MC Stradale with no information about its specifications, though chances are it will sport the same mechanical updates as its closed-top sibling.

If true, this means the MC Stradale convertible will get a stronger version of Maserati’s 4.7-litre V8 engine delivering 453Hp (460PS / 338kW) and 520Nm (383 lb-ft), or 10hp and 20Nm more than the GranCabrio. At least in coupe guise, the MC Stradale is also lighter (110kg or 242 pounds) than the “Sport” model and also features faster gear changes from the MC Race Shift electro-actuated transmission and more hardcore suspension settings.

The visual upgrades, as seen from these photos, include the redesigned front and rear bumpers, hood air scoops, a deep rear diffuser with twin tailpipes, a boot lid spoiler and different alloy wheels.

Few Ferrari­ ­introductions could match the polarizing effect of the Ferrari Testarossa upon its unveiling at the 1984 Paris Motor Show. A Motor Trend poll of automotive design chiefs elicited reactions from “I hate it” to “exciting, aggressive, and awesome.”

The marketplace sided with the latter. Buyers lined up for Ferrari’s 512 BBi replacement, and Testarossa-inspired bodyside strakes and outrigger mirrors soon appeared on new models from other automakers and became staples of aftermarket catalogs.

The Testarossa was named for Ferrari’s famed sports-racing car of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Its groundbreaking styling was a response to engineering requirements and a backlash against the conservatism that blanketed Europe and Italy’s automotive manufacturers during the most of the 1970s.

For much of that tumultuous decade, automobiles were reviled as a waste of natural resources. The continent’s growing socialist and communist influences meant displays of material wealth were increasingly scorned. The goal of individual achievement at work was questioned. Terrorism became a growth industry in Italy and Germany, and the power of unions increased tremendously. Automotive design and engineering progress suffered.

That changed in Italy in the early 1980s with “The March of 40,000” when Fiat’s workforce rebelled against the unions’ clout. Organized labor’s pull slowly diminished over time, and Italy heaved a sigh of relief. With the lid off the kettle, creativity was free to boil. The result was what Sergio Pininfarina called “an exaggeration in flamboyance.”

That may have described the Testarossa’s astonishing looks. But there was engineering and wind tunnel testing behind the ebullient shape. The track, for example, was much wider at the rear than the front for stability and handling. And the straked air intakes fed radiators efficiently located at the sides rather than in the front as on the 512 BBi.

The Testarossa was roomier, more refined, and comfortable than the 512 BBi. It retained a flat-12 engine of 4942cc, but added four-valve heads and other mechanical changes for an output of 390 horsepower on European cars, 380 for U.S.-spec versions.

Biscuit’s Christopher Riggert recently directed a series of spots for “How To Change Cars Forever,” a high-intensity ad campaign for the new Dodge Dart. The fast-paced, slickly edited spots take the viewer through the whole process of designing a brand-spankin’-new car, from all night brainstorm sessions to procuring the perfect celeb endorser.

Dry wit permeates the spots via the narrator’s snappy deadpan delivery and striking visuals. The iconic baseline and guitar riff from Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “No Church in the Wild” underscores the pace of the spots and steadily builds excitement toward the Dart’s climactic reveal.

There’s little left to say about the E-Type that hasn’t already been said, by experts ranging from Jaguar’s own design director Ian Callum, to none other than EnzoFerrari, who’s said to have called the E-Type the most beautiful car in the world. Introduced in 1961 at the Geneva Motor Show, the E-Type became an icon, one of the silhouettes that even car unenthusiasts can recognize from a distance, thanks to an aerodynamic shape penned by Malcolm Sayer.

Capable of 150 mph, it was the fastest car in the world in its day. Collecting fans from Brigitte Bardot to Austin Power, the E-Type itself became heavily collected–which means even at the half-century mark, thousands of pristine and slightly worn for the better examples survive, to race another day.

The Porsche 989 a four door performance oriented touring sedan that maintained the iconic shape of the 911 Carrera, but unlike the Panamera, never saw production after it was presented back in 1988.

The idea of creating the 989 came as a result of strong 928 sales. Porsche engineer Dr. Ulrich Bez decided to design a four door sporty touring vehicle that could compete with models fromMercedes-Benz and BMW. As a result the Porsche 989 featured a new front-engine, rear-drive platform with a wheelbase of 2826 mm (111.3 in) and was powered by an 80 degree, water cooled V8 engine with a power output of around 300 HP and displaced somewhere between 3.6 and 4.2 Liters.