New Universal 12mm Lot 5 on 2040-parts.com

AC Schnitzer upgrades the Mini Cooper coupe

The Mini Cooper coupe is still fresh--it hasn't been out for more than a year. Now, German tuner AC Schnitzer has taken it into the shop for some upgrades. The company is working on performance upgrades for both the diesel- and gasoline-powered cars, starting with a front limited-slip differential.

BARONS ENDS YEAR ON HIGH

AUCTION HOUSE Barons has celebrated a successful classic car auction with 44 successful sales and a 1959 Aston Martin DB MKIII DHC making £175,000. The classic Aston had belonged to the same family since it was three-months-old and was joined by another DB MKIII example, a rolling restoration project that fetched £70,000. Another notable sale was a "time-warp" 1970 Ford Escort Delux MkI, which had covered just 2,600 miles in 40 years.

Michelin Challenge Design competition celebrates 10 years

Michelin has released a short video documenting the last ten years of the Challenge Design competition. With excepts from jury members Freeman Thomas, Director of Advanced Design at Ford; Victor Nacif, VP of Design at Nissan Design Europe; Geza Loczi, Director of Design at Volvo Monitoring Concept Center; Dave Marek, Advanced Design Director for Honda North America; Steward Reed, Chair of Transportation Design at ACCD; Frank Saucedo, Design Director of GM's Advanced Design Studio in California and Chris Chapman of BMW Designworks USA, the video outlines some of the 2700 entries Michelin has received since the competition's inception in 2002. That year, the MCD display at the NAIAS in Detroit featured cars from European design houses.