Corvette Antenna Ground Plate, 1974-1977 on 2040-parts.com

Audi designer to head VW's design center

Volkswagen AG has picked Stefan Sielaff, its current head of Audi design, to lead the VW design center in Potsdam, Germany. Sielaff, 49, will replace Thomas Ingenlath, who is leaving the company. The change will be effective Feb.

Renault Alpine A110-50

As we reported earlier this week, the Renault Alpine A110-50 prototype will be shown at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. Designed by Yann Jarsalle and Concept and Show Car Director Axel Breun the A110-50 effectively relaunches the historic Alpine brand despite being essentially a reworked version of the Renault-branded DeZir concept unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. As well as the addition of various Alpine design cues – the stylized yellow spot lamp pods, central hood flute and blue and orange colorway – the car is built on the platform of the RenaultSport Megane Trophy racecar and so therefore requires cooling provisions for its mid-mounted engine.

McLaren P1 - full story at Paris motor show 2012

Journalists often talk of cars stealing the limelight at motor shows. If any larceny was witnessed at the 2012 Paris motor show, it was most likely occurring on the McLaren stand, where the stunning P1 hypercar made its world debut. This is the culmination of Project P12, renamed as the P1 concept car to reflect F1's obsession with first slot on the grid.