Arctic Cat Panther 570 Headlight 2007 on 2040-parts.com

Car Designers Blackmailed

A London court has found former design student Guy Lloyd-Parker guilty of blackmailing US car designers. The London College of Fashion graduate had claimed that 95 car design sketches were stolen from him by two college lecturers in 1994, eventually resurfacing as final designs in the form of the Audi TT, BMW Z3, Mazda RX-8 and the Volvo XC90. Lloyd-Parker, having failed to successfully sue the college, began sending menacing letters to California-based Volvo Design Director Geza Loczi, former BMW and Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, and ex-Mazda designer Tsutomu Matano demanding £90,000.

Some secured lenders object to quick sale of Chrysler

A minority group of Chrysler LLC secured lenders has objected in bankruptcy court to the quick sale of Chrysler to a new corporate entity led by Fiat S.p.A. The group of about 40 banks and hedge funds holds about $3 billion of the $6.9 billion in secured loans that Chrysler has with the banks. Four major New York banks holding $4 billion of that debt agreed last week to settle for $2 billion in payment for the $6.9 billion owed.

Rolls Royce for the People – China’s Geely builds a RR Phantom

The Geely GE - A Chinese Rolls Royce! Plagiarised cars are not new. China has been making them for years (to the ongoing consternation of  Western car makers), and Mitsuoka in Japan make a whole range of cars that ‘pay homage’ to classic cars of the past.