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Design Contest: LA Design Challenge 2008

The entrants for the fifth annual Design Challenge, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers' conference, have now been announced. Nine Southern California automotive design studios - including Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen - have been pitted against one another and asked to develop a concept which best answers a brief entitled 'Motorsports in 2025'. "Automotive designers have always been fascinated with motorsports and this year's Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc.

Teewave AR1 (2011) - Gordon Murray's roadster unveiled

It may have a daft name - let's face it, driving a car called a Teewave does sound terrifically uncool - but Gordon Murray Design's latest creation is a very important vehicle. The Teewave AR1 not only showcases the Surrey-based company's design and engineering capabilities that elevate it to full design studio status, but also illustrates the very sweet spot where engineering integrity, lightweight material and want-one design meet. We joined design director Barry Lett at GMD on the day Project T32 was being primed for shipment to Tokyo for its public debut by Toray.

Ford Vertrek concept

Ford used the 2011 Detroit auto show to unveil its Vertrek concept. The compact SUV is billed as potentially leading the industry in both design and fuel efficiency. The Vertrek is the latest evolution of the Kinetic design language that debuted on the Iosis concept, which subsequently evolved into the current generation Mondeo.