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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.

New Lotus Elise S Cup R track car

Seems everyone is building non-road legal track day cars right now, and Lotus most definitely wants a piece of that action. Its latest effort is the startling bright and bewinged Elise S Cup R, pictured above. Based on the 1.8-litre supercharged Elise S road car, Lotus has done a lot more than simply lose the number plate here.

2014 Mazda 6 sedan teased before Paris debut

Mazda began releasing teaser videos of the 2014 Mazda 6 sedan this week. So far we've seen three shrouded angles of the new car. In Paris, we expect to see the whole thing.