Steve Davies

Put yourself in the shoes of Michael Stoschek - successful entrepreneur, collector and driver of historic racing cars and overall motorsport junkie. One day you decide to add another car to your collection, a New Stratos, successor to the iconic The Lancia Stratos HF rally car. But wait, Lancia ceased production of the Stratos in 1974 after only 492 cars were made and despite various concepts displayed at motor shows since, there is no 'New' Stratos.

It's become rather a contentious issue predicting just when we're likely to see the public release of Gran Turismo 5. I remember sitting down with the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) team back in 2008 discussing the launch of GT5 Prologue and figuring on a 12 month delay until the full-fat GT5 was in our hands.

Following his headline performance at MINI’s 50th Birthday extravaganza at Silverstone in 2009, mod rock legend Paul Weller has collaborated with MINI to create a one off car which will be sold in a live global online auction with all proceeds going to charity.

The unique MINI Cooper was designed by Paul Weller, built in Oxford and hand-painted by MINI craftsmen. The car will be auctioned for one month from 11 November to raise money for charities Nordoff Robins and War Child.

It's the final race of the season and Bernie couldn't have staged a more dramatic finale. Last week in Sao Paolo, Red Bull Racing secured the constructors title, an accomplishment that was long overdue...

Lotus Racing has announced this morning that its cars will be running in a black and gold colour scheme from the 2011 Championship onwards. This move echoes the evolution of Lotus Formula Oneâ„¢ cars of the past by moving from the iconic green and yellow paint scheme of the first season to the much loved black and gold.

Earlier today Land Rover released pictures of the 5-Door version of the all-new Range Rover Evoque, which makes its global public debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show next week (November 17, 2010).

Measuring 30mm taller than the coupé model, the 5-Door Range Rover Evoque adds further space and versatility. Rear seat passengers benefit from over 50mm more shoulder room, along with better headroom. The key lines remain intact – the dramatic rising beltline, muscular shoulder running the length of the car, and the distinctive taper to the floating roofline – but with a slightly higher rear roof, in all other respects it remains identical to the 3-door coupe which means it stays true to the spirit of the LRX concept design.

MINI New Zealand are running a campaign at the moment to take late night test drives, they'd like to encourage customers to put a brand new MINI through its paces on the open road when it's clear of the usual distractions - at night.

On the face of it, there's no particular reason to take note of with such a campaign - it's perhaps an odd idea to encourage drivers to test an unfamiliar car whilst trying to figure out the position of its indicator stalks, but we've seen worse ideas - I just wouldn't fancy being a sales person accompanying such a test drive.

With all the shenanigans surrounding the recent Paris Motor Show, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Metamorphosis is yet another new Lotus model ready the join the Esprit, Elan, Elite, Elise and Eterne. Fear not, for Metamorphosis is in fact a unique collaboration between Lotus and the award winning French artist Gérard Rancinan – due to be revealed on Friday (12th November) at an exclusive VIP event in Los Angeles.