Steve Davies

Lotus are pulling out all the stops and launching two hardcore versions of the Exige and Evora, for the Pebble Beach automotive events this week at Monterey and Long Beach.

Details are scarce at the moment, very scarce. All we know is that it's a new British car maker, based in London, that is due to launch on 14th September 2011 at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.

Judging from the reaction on Lotus Cars' facebook page this afternoon, news of their latest executive appointment has come as a bit of a shock. Lotus announced in a cryptic email that "..they had a new creative man on board -- BUT can you guess who this particular international man of mystery is?" Well it's none other than US record producer, rapper and all-round hip-hop star, Swizz Beatz.

Is it just me or are electric driven cars becoming cool all of a sudden? Best not mention the Nissan Leaf, but in most other respects we're seeing car makers innovating around the unique packaging formats afforded by compact electric drive systems and turning out some stunning designs.

The first in a whole new generation of Subaru crossover vehicle will be unveiled at the 64th Frankfurt Motor Show, September 13 – 25, 2011. The production Subaru XV, which was shown in concept form at the Auto Shanghai motor show in April, is said to remain true to the Concept and Subaru is confident that it will bring something fresh to the segment.

Which is faster? Man or MiTo? That's the question posed by Alfa Romeo in a light-hearted social campaign run on Facebook. Olympian Iwan Thomas was challenged to beat an Alfa MiTo in a 3.8-mile race around central London’s bustling city streets, starting and finishing at Tower Bridge.

I'm sure I'm not alone in finding Mazda's tech-speak a little challenging to decipher. We've become so used to such all-encompassing phrases such as Efficient Dynamics, Intelligent Performance and ECOnetic that initially Mazda's SKYACTIV has me wondering if the Japanese car maker has invented some form of anti-gravitational device. And how does SKYACTIV fit with ZOOM-ZOOM? Or is that SO last decade?

Ettore Bugatti, best known for his racing cars of the 1920s and 1930s, came from a family of well-respected designers - his brother Rembrandt became a renowned sculptor, whilst his father designed...