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Beanz Meanz More Eco-Friendly Future Fords

THE car industry is full of interesting and unusual business partnerships, but this latest tie-up between Ford and Heinz promises to be one of the more intriguing. Far from seeking to produce 57 varieties of any particular new Ford model, the two firms are exploring the use of tomato fibre to develop a sustainable composite materials for use in vehicle manufacturing. For example, boffins believe that dried tomato skins could become the wiring brackets in future Ford vehicles or the storage bin a customer uses to hold coins and other small objects.

Porsche Panamera

Porsche today revealed the first official photos of its new four-door grand touring sports car, roughly nine months before its scheduled market launch. Joining the 911, Boxster and Cayman sports cars as well as the sporty Cayenne SUV, the Panamera is Porsche's fourth model series. The designers of the Panamera sought to position their latest offering as a brand-new and truly different model while retaining the defining Porsche look.

Ford Shelby GR-1 concept shown at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

 Ford is taking the occasion of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance to unveil the Ford Shelby GR-1 concept, calling the new sports car a salute to 'performance art'. The GR-1 is a uniquely emotional American sports car design that makes a bold statement about Ford's performance future. "The Ford Shelby Cobra concept was a small step in our plans for the Ford GT supercar architecture and our relationship with Carroll Shelby," says J Mays, Ford Motor Company group vice president of Global Design.