8e0 035 192 Audi S4 S6 A6 A4 Navigation Plus on 2040-parts.com

Finalists announced in exterior phase of CDN-GM Interactive Design competition

The exterior phase of the CDN-GM Interactive Design competition closed on the November 7th, with over 150 entries from design students based in the USA and Canada, making it our most popular interactive competition phase so far. After the press days of the recent LA Auto Show, judges and mentors from GM, along with our competition partners Dassault Systèmes, Faurecia and SRG Global, gathered at GM's North Hollywood advanced design studio to pick the finalists. Those chosen will be invited to attend the 2012 NAIAS in Detroit, along with finalists from the interiors phase, and on the second press day, interiors and exterior winners will be announced for each brand.

One Lap of the Web: The Weird World of Wheels

-- Introducing the greatest television show you've never heard of: "Operation: Mystery!" Imagine if the "X-Files" took place in 1960s Japan, and had its own cool custom car the heroes rolled around in: the Tortoise, a pudgy little thing that resembled the unholy combination of an Opel GT and a Dustbuster. It was bulletproof (not really), had gullwing doors (really) and was based on a Subaru 360 (really!). Sadly, its whereabouts are unknown, and it might have disappeared into the ether along with the UFOs its heroes probably investigated.

Skoda Fabia vRS to be dropped due to poor sales. Is that a good idea?

The Skoda Fabia vRS (pictured) is being axed The current version of the Skoda Fabia vRS has been with us since the Geneva Motor Show in 2010, and it’s a cracking little car. It’s the Skoda version of the VW Polo GTI and comes with the same 1.4 litre TSI supercharged with a healthy 178bhp, 7-speed DSG gearbox and performance and economy that satisfies – 0-62mph in 7.1 seconds and 44mpg. But it seems buyers aren’t queueing round the block to drive off in Skoda’s hot little Fabia so it’s going to be dropped.