1975 1979 - 1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Wheel Well Flares on 2040-parts.com

Mini is 50: a Mini celebration by CAR writers and readers

By Tim Pollard Motoring Issues 13 October 2009 12:45 Mini is 50 this year and we've published a 33-page Mini special in the new November issue of CAR Magazine – packed with memories, drives and analysis of and with the cars and people that made Mini great.  Here we've asked some of CAR's top writers to remember their personal highlights from the past five decades. Gavin Green explains why he recently drove across Australia in a modern Mini, while Anthony ffrench-Constant recalls why crashing a classic Mini caused him to start a lifelong nicotine habit. Click on the links below for our new Mini stories – and don't forget we want YOUR Mini memories too.

Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.

Ram 2500 HD gets six-speed transmission

Chrysler's Ram truck brand announced today that it is adding a six-speed automatic transmission to its 2012 2500 Heavy Duty trucks. The Ram 2500 HD and 3500 HD will be available with diesel and gasoline engines. The six-speed transmission replaces the five-speed 545RFE transmission in the 2500 HD, the automaker said in a statement.