Steve Davies

MissionL sounds like some sort of stealth weapon doesn't it? But in fact it's a new compact ‘lift-back’ design from ŠKODA which will receive its world premiere at next week's Frankfurt motor show.

With just over a week to go until it's unveiling at the Frankfurt motor show, Jaguar has released another image - this time of the soon-to-be-revealed C-X16 sports car hiding under the covers during filming in the Graian Italian Alps.

As teasers go, it's distinctly underwhelming, but it got me thinking about the location of the film shoot and what this tells us about Jaguar's new 911 rival.

Last month Eterniti Motors launched itself via a new landing page, announcing that its first car 'Hemera' would be shown at the forthcoming Frankfurt motor show.

We got in touch with Mark Carbery from Eterniti, who explained that the company is completely independent of any OEM and funded by an international group of investors and a team of people assembled with experience ranging from luxury and high performance vehicles to motorsport.

If there has ever been a brand which has more comprehensively turned its core values upside-down, then I can't think of a better example than Lotus. That's not to say that it's the wrong decision, merely that the transformation is so acute that you'd forgiven for thinking you'd just walked onto the set of the Twilight Zone.

It's motor show time, so Lotus have given us another riddle to solve - 3 new cars, 2 new options AND 1 special limited edition. Thankfully they've given us part of the answer, but they're keeping 2 of the new models a secret until they're revealed on 13 September in Frankfurt.

The W16 engine fitted to the Bugatti Veyron produces 1,250 newton metres of torque and a little over 1,000 bhp. It's the fastest production car in the world and most people accept it's unlikely ever to be beaten either in terms of those headline power figures or straight-line performance - after all, we live in a period of austerity and environmental consciousness, where a car's CO2 emissions now lead our new vocabulary for desirability.

Honda have provided us with a quick glimpse of the New European Civic, prior to its launch at the Frankfurt motor show next month.

The image shows the New Civic's rear-end with its combination lighting that also works as an aerodynamic spoiler, managing air flow over the top and sides of the car. It looks to be something of an evolutionary change from the 8th generation Civic, which shocked us back in 2006 with its radical new profile and even more radical interior design.

For those of us open to change, the DC100 is a pure tease - we want it NOW, Land Rover should cancel those design clinics and start producing it immediately, but this is a Defender Concept and Land Rover didn't get to where they are now by ignoring the preferences of their most loyal customers.