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Interior Motives Design Conference 2005

Patrick le Quement, Senior Vice President, Corporate Design, Renault made the opening address in which he remarked that "the most profound change I and my team have made is the investment in interior design". He took the audience through a succinct overview of the recent history of Renault design and how far it has evolved from being 'the art of dressing up the hunchback' as a senior Renault manager remarked several decades ago. One of the interesting Renault Design processes he talked about was its 'Trends Missions' where groups of four or five designers make trips into creative areas adjacent to car design for a few days to explore, research and bring back to the studio valuable insight that enriches the design group as a whole and informs the many issues and tasks being grappled with, one of the most important at the moment being defining 'what is Renault'.

Double Oh My! James Bond Aston Martin sells for $4.6 million

Perhaps the single most breathtaking car of the fall auction season, a 1964 Aston Martin DB5--better known as the James Bond car--sold for $4.61 million to Ohio collector Harry Yeaggy on Wednesday at the RM Auctions Automobiles of London sale. The Aston was expected to sell for more than $5 million, and the sale fell a bit short of that, registering a final bid of 2.6 million British pounds, or $4,114,760. Buyer's premiums raise the total sale price to $4.61 million.

Concept Car of the Week: Renault Racoon (1992)

As far as wacky concepts go, the Racoon surely has to be up there with the best of them. Designed and engineered like no other car before, the off-road and amphibious capabilities of the Racoon stretched automobile versatility to new levels. With its big eyes and smiley face, it has the same happy expression as its sister, the Twingo.