Raymarine C80 on 2040-parts.com

Lexus shifts LF-LC coupe concept to higher gear

The wild Lexus LF-LC coupe concept that wowed visitors at the Detroit auto show is on track for development, signaling a new direction for a brand that has fallen from first to third in the U.S. luxury sales rankings. Toyota is on a mission to make Lexus sportier and more compelling to potential buyers--and it starts with the LF-LC, which was designed at Toyota's Calty studio in Newport Beach, Calif.

2011 Nissan GT-R: GT-R EGOIST & GT-R Club Track Editions added

2011 Nissan GT-R - arrives in February 2011 It may be that Nissan are following the Porsche 911 school of car updates by making endless changes to a car that ends up looking the same – the 2011 Nissan GT-R. But they also seem to be heading relentlessly down the 911 route in terms of model variations too. For 2011 there are two new models – the EGOIST and the Club Track edition, which we didn’t know when we first reported details of the 2011 GT-R in August.

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz SL

The new high-tech, low weight Mercedes SL roadster receives its official global unveil next week in Detroit but Car Design News got an early peek of the final production car and had a chat with its designers at Mercedes' US advanced design studio in Carlsbad, California back in November. "We want to get back to clean, long-lasting design," director of Mercedes global advanced design and SL project leader, Steffen Kohl told CDN at the exclusive preview of the sixth-generation model. "So the new SL is long, sleek and still full of tension in the feature lines but less wedgy." In a short presentation Kohl felt all SLs became successfully iconic in their times because they followed two key rules – ‘sensuality' and ‘cleanness' – but alluded that the first rule may have been lost in more recent eras.