1. Mercedes-Benz Count Trossi SSK

Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has named this “Count Trossi” SSK after the “aristocratic” Italian race-car driver Count Carlo Felice Trossi. This car actually has a very stylish set of wheels, despite having ‘weird car design’. This car had been extremely successful in the Le Mans, Monaco, and the Mille Miglia.

There are only four original models of the Count Trossi SSK in the world and each is a ‘holy grail’ among car collectors. Recently one model from 1929 sold for US$7.4 million!

2. Peugeot Honey-B

The Peugeot Honey-B like its namesake looks pretty much like a big honey bee on wheels! It seems like a Peugeot car designer must have got stung by a honeybee one day and he decided to immortalize his ‘honeybee experience’ and came up with this strange car.

Like bees, it is aerodynamic, but unlike bees, it is a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) powered by hydrogen fuel cells. This Honey-B boasts of seats with techno-cool hydraulic arms that help various preset adjustments which means they retract automatically to your preferred position once you’re seated!

3. Hondo Puyo

The Honda Puyo can be termed as the “Weird-great Puyo”. The little information we found on this ‘weirdo’ car tells us that this is a concept car which runs on hydrogen fuel. Unlike the fuel-cell powered Honda FCX, the Puyo prides on “no sharp edges” and is covered in soft silicone so that it can absorb light collisions. If you are planning to ride this, you have to use a joystick instead of a steering wheel.

4. Nissan Moon Buggy

Fueled by imagination, designer Robert Hoffmann drew up this Nissan Moon Buggy concept for an auto magazine. This weird car is very unlikely to go into production. This strange Nissan Moon Buggy has been inspired by the Lunar Modules.

The car has oversize rear wheels that are supposed to provide more efficiency in maneuverability. Not only that, when it reaches high speeds, Ailerons are deployed for increased aerodynamics, Ailerons are commonly found on fixed-wing aircraft!

To be honest, the car looks like a cross between an alien and an iPod.

5. Nissan Pivo 2

Who says no car designers design cars for gals? The Nissan Pivo 2 is just not a ‘girlie-girlie’ car concept but a very urbane one in that! It is powered by advanced compact lithium-ion batteries and features a unique rotating cabin, which means no reverse gear is required! The four wheels are powered by electric engine and can turn through 90 degrees to allow the Pivo 2 to drive sideways as well as forward. The Pivo 2 looks as if it has come from the Pixar Studio!

To read more interesting car articles, visit Carazoo.com.

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These marvels of safety innovation have saved countless lives, and would undoubtedly save countless more. But what happens when the very innovations designed to save lives take them, or fail to activate at the appropriate time? Drivers take for granted these safety features, but if defective products work their way into a car design it is the innocent that sometimes pay for these mistakes with their lives.

Though no one should drive recklessly because they think that their auto safety features will save them, the sense of security they bring to the driving experience is often a factor in the purchase of a vehicle. To that end, auto manufacturers have a duty and a responsibility to not include defective devices in the design or manufacture of their cars.

Some of the most common points of failure and defective devices in automobiles include:

* Airbags: Even though airbags have made astounding leaps and bounds in performance and safety over the last few generations of automobiles, they are technologically complex pieces of equipment with numerous failure points. A faulty crash sensor, defective deploying device or a failure to properly recalibrate the airbag after a previous accident could seriously imperil the lives of the drivers and passengers that depend on these devices to save their lives in case of a car accident.
* Seat belts: Like airbags, seatbelts are a vital safety feature included in every car sold in the United States. In fact, 49 states mandate their use, as they can prevent a passenger being thrown from a vehicle during a high speed collision or rollover so common to the SUVs and other cars that frequent American roads. Unfortunately, if a car manufacturer uses defective seat belt latches that fail to secure the strap across a person, or a belt that cannot support the weight of a person when accelerated to accident speeds, the company that built the car and designed the seat belt can sometimes be held liable for their oversight in a court of law.
* Crumple zones: Crumple zones are features in cars that all the car to “crunch up” when they impact another car or other solid object. Though it seems counter-intuitive, by allowing the body of a car to absorb the shock of an impact it prevents that energy from being diverted to the passengers, and because the high grade materials used in modern cars is stronger than the human body, this feature can save lives. Unfortunately, if a car manufacturer builds a car based on a defective design, these crumple zones can become killer zones. Defective designed crumple zones can have jagged metal struts that protrude into passenger compartments, or have metal that crunches up a bit too well, crushing the innocent people trapped inside.

Cars are a vital part of American life, and people trust them to be as safe as possible during an accident. However, a defectively designed or manufactured safety feature can quickly turn a routine accident into a scene of untold agony and misery.

When selecting an automobile, always check to see if your car is up to standard in all its safety devices. You owe it to yourself, your family, and the other drivers on the road. A little foresight before will save you enormous agony later.

Bryan Snyder is a San Diego car accident lawyer 0 that is ready and willing to stand by you through the litigation process, to work with you to find a solution to your situation and help you to get your life back on track. As a defective product attorney, Bryan Snyder has been represented victims of car crashes involving cars with defective safety designs.

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In 1999, he moved to Ford and worked as a chief designer. The position he held was Director of Design for Product, Interior Design Strategy and Process. In that position, he led various advanced and production design programs. His position also put him to work under their Lincoln and Mercury divisions. Because he worked under these sub divisions, he had his first contact with Aston Martin. Ford Motor Company group vice president of Design and Chief Creative officer J. Mays was not happy to see him go as Marek has proven himself in a variety of design jobs throughout the company in the six years he spent with them. He was however, pleased to see a new chapter open up in Marek’s career life, allowing him to utilize his unique perspectives on British design.

In 2006, Marek Reichman oversaw the production of the Rapide Concept. This is a fully functional design study of the first true four door sedan presented by Aston Martin. This car was designed to be an elegant four door sports car that stayed true to all of Aston Martin’s ideals regarding their vehicles. Sporting four doors wasn’t it’s only unique point. It is equipped with four full sized seats and an exceptional luggage compartment that is accessed through a full sized tailgate. This car was designed to open up it’s own unique marketing sector as an elegant, four door sports car designed to carry the whole family with all of their belongings.

This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of Romans International who are an Aston Martin Dealership and also great Porsche Dealers in the UK.

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The recruited car designers from Taiwan will be allowed to design new car models for its Sweden designer center. Volvo has made this plan specifically for the Great China Car Market. New car designs will be made by these Taiwanese designers for the distinctive and oriental taste of the targeted consumers.

500,000 to 700,000 Volvo cars are expected to be sold out internationally this year. This includes around 50,000 units for the Asian market which includes Taiwan, Japan, mainland China and other Southeast Asian nations. Since the demand for luxury cars are rapidly rising, car makers from the Volvo Car Corporation are aiming to sell 50,000 to 80,000 units of Volvo cars in Asia in 2007.

Apart from that, Volvo is continuously deploying its manufacturing, product design and parts procurements including its Volvo C70 auto parts in Asia. Also, as a component of Ford’s global part procurement system, they have the responsibility of lowering the production cost.

According to Volvo Car Taiwan officials, Volvo is number three among the country’s imported car brands. Still, Mercedes–Benz and BMW tops the chart. However, they are adding more efforts to meet the consumer’s taste in Great China. This is one of the reasons why Volvo is employing talented car designers from Taiwan to develop new car models for the specific market.

Steve Harper has been visiting Taiwan several times. According to the officials, Harper was extremely impressed with the designing performances of Taiwan’s local designers. These designers are from Ford Lio Ho of Motor Co.’s design center. Volvo have appropriated NT$10 million or US$305,810, to continuously hold a series of car designing seminars with the Taiwan Design Center. This is a proof that Asian talents are becoming more globally competitive in terms of car designing.

Soon, these designs will be made available in the market. Finally, Volvo car designs will be more preferable for Asians.

Volvo auto parts

Kenneth McKinley is a 35-year old marketing specialist of voparts.com, a leading Volvo parts dealer in the country today. Working in the car parts industry for a long time now and being a car enthusiast himself gives him a wealth of knowledge on anything automotive.

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That is why car designers have always played a key role in the auto industry. In connection with this, car makers are always on the lookout for promising students. Lately, the industry has found a new spot where talented car design students thrive: South Korea.

While the country has only a short time of car making history compared to Japanese and Western countries, students from the country are touted to be one of the best in the world. Koreans have been employed by car manufacturers like Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. Some attributes that these South Korean designers have that impressed chief designers from the aforementioned car makers are their technical skills, work ethic, and creativity.

Shiro Nakamura, the chief Creative Officer and Head of Design for Nissan, said that: “When I first saw the sketches that Korean students were drawing, I was utterly shocked. Their design is very emotional and powerful. I hate to say it, but they are miles ahead of Japanese students, both in terms of design sense and technique. There’s no comparison”. He further said that Nissan will probably hire more Korean designers this year than Japanese ones.

The most known school where South Korean designers come from is the Hongik University which is located in the country’s capital. The university is the country’s top fine arts school. The Seoul-based school only offered the transportation design course in 1990, last year the number of students accommodated is doubled to 120.

Aside from homegrown talents, South Korea also produced some of the best young designers in the world. On of them is Jae Chung. He did not study in South Korea but out in the West. He graduated from the Art Center in California. Today he is now working for Dodge and the interesting fact is that he penned the Dodge Demon sports coupe currently on display at the 77th Geneva International Auto Show.

Ralph Gilles, the Vice President of Design for Chrysler, has this to say about Chung: “He was born in Korea and went to school in Pasadena. And it’s just like anything -you get exposed to the school, you get exposed to Chrysler and Dodge and out comes this new aesthetic.”

Another Korean, and also an alumnus of the Art Center, Han Seung Lee landed a job at Honda. Lee, in turn, penned the Sports 4 Concept shown to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. This shows that Koreans have what it takes to take on the world of car designing as sure as a Mercedes H&K air filters are efficient when it comes to doing their job.

Another chief designer which expressed admiration toward Korean design students is Koichi Hayashi, Deputy General Manager of Design for Mazda. He said that: “There’s a real passion among Korean designers to advance and succeed that exceeds what you see in Japanese students.” Currently, he has four Korean designers working for him at their Hiroshima headquarters.

The emergence of South Korea as a source of talented car designers is a good news for Japanese car makers. Due to the similarities in language structure and working culture of Japan and South Korea, Korean designers have an edge over their Western counterparts when applying for a job in any Japanese car company. Furthermore, Koreans are more willing than Westerners to work for relatively low starting salaries offered by Japanese car companies.

According to Nakamura, “all the pieces are in place, right now, young Korean designers are most sought after by Japanese carmakers but they can make it in the West anytime.” But Korean students should not rest on their laurels since in the near future – other countries in the world will also be producing design students at par with them. Countries like China, Russia, and India have all invested in training their car design students to be competitive in the auto industry.

Mike Bartley, 49, is a professional automotive journalist domiciled in Irvine, CA. He travels from one state to another to cover the hottest auto shows, racing events and automotive revelations. His penned compositions cover press releases, reviews, and suggestions. Where the auto action is, that’s exactly where you can find Mike. You can visit Mercedes H&K air filters for more information.

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Car design teams such as the one in Mercedes-Benz often look for new designs for next-generation appeal. This time around, it is all about fuel efficiency- and new sci-fi looks. Mercedes-Benz took its inspiration from something a little odd this time around- the tropical box fish.

The car is rather small, and has the sci-fi feel to it. The four cylinder gas-saving machine will return an amazing 84 miles per gallon at the constant speed of 54 miles per hour. This could be revolutionary as far as gas efficiency goes in new cars- a milestone in the industry. It can achieve the speed of 62 miles per hour in around 8 seconds- not bad at all.

The code-named ‘Bionic’ won’t be coming to a dealership near you, but it will heavily influence the design of future cars to come. The concept car was mainly for show, and to demonstrate new complicated fuel cell designs that save you money at the gas station.

No on is for sure when we will see changes such as this, but coming from Mercedes-Benz, it isn’t going to be cheap. Even at four cylinders- this car itself would cost much more than the average car. Expect 5 years at the latest to enjoy the gas-saving technology.

Let’s see if other manufacturers will follow suit.

Eric Hartwell oversees “The World’s Best Homepage” intended to be a user-generated resource where YOUR opinion counts. Anybody can contribute and all are welcomed. Visit us to read, comment upon or share opinions on weight loss and obesity and visit his associated site articles for free.

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The judges comprised of renowned motoring journalists from 22 different countries around the world. The panel has reached its verdict and announced the award at the New York International Auto Show over the weekend.

The World Car of the Year jurors commended the TT’s new flared wheel arches, sleek silhouette, and signature single frame grille. They said that “while there is a clear connection to the original TT’s Bauhaus styling, the second-generation model evolves it into a more modern form”. The panel of judges has also praised the efforts that Audi has exerted to create “a more spacious, driver-focused cabin.”

The 2007 World Car Design of the Year is not the first award that the new Audi TT has received. Its blend of charming design and absolute dynamism has earned the TT awards from BBC Top Gear and What Car? Magazines in Great Britain and another award from ADAC Motorwelt and Auto Bild magazines in Germany.

The new Audi TT has also received recognition in Australia. It was awarded Drive Car of the Year by drive.com.au, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. The new TT is available with a 2.0 TFSI four cylinder engine or with a 3.2 liter six-cylinder engine and Quattro permanent all-wheel-drive.

The new Audi TT coupe is longer, wider, and much better equipped than its predecessor but despite its size it is very light. Such remarkable weight reduction is made possible through the use hybrid aluminum/steel ASF (Audi Space Frame) body. Aside from the Audi TT, the Audi RS 4 has also received an award as the 2007 World Performance Car of the Year while the Audi A6 was the inaugural World Car of the Year in 2005.

About Audi

Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer base in Ingolstadt, Bavaria and a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen the maker of quality VW water pumps with headquarters at Wolfsburg Germany.

Audi is renowned around the world for producing vehicles that don’t only look good but also leads when it comes to performance and power. Audi is the luxury unit of Volkswagen and headed by CEO Rupert Stadler.

For more about your VW water pumps needs like , visit your trusted online source.

Benjamin Hudson works as a supervisor at one of the top engineering firms in the business district of Louisiana. He is also a freelance journalist and has passion for anything automotive.

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The release of the HQ Holden became a determining point in establishing the GM-H brand in Australia as a dominant force in motor vehicle manufacturing, not just locally, but globally with 41,181 HQ’s exported overseas during 1973.

The huge model range included the Belmont Sedan, Belmont Station Wagon, Belmont Panel Van, Belmont Utility, Kingswood Sedan, Kingswood Station Wagon, Kingswood Ute, SS Sedan, Premier Sedan, Premier Station Wagon, Holden Chassis and Cab, Monaro Coupe, Monaro GTS Coupe, Monaro GTS 350 Coupe, Monaro LS Coupe, Monaro GTS Sedan, Statesman Sedan,and Statesman DeVille Sedan.

In fact, the full HQ range supplied Australia’s new car buyers with a choice like they never had before. This was the standard set for future generations of new Holden models to follow.

1973 was the 25th anniversary of GM-H in Australia and it was befitting that Holden should celebrate with it’s most popular motor vehicle ever produced in Australia with special “silver anniversary” badged models released during 1973.

In total this amazing HQ model vehicle sold 485,650 units to make it one of the first permanent Classic Holden Cars, because of its’ reliability, functionality and the various body style configurations and engine combinations. No other model Holden has attained the volume sales that the HQ reached during it’s 3 years of production.

The HQ Holden remains supreme as the number 1 best selling Holden of all time, followed by the VT Holden Commodore model of 1998, with total production figures of 303,895. Competitive car manufacturers in Australia consider this amazing HQ sales volume, for a single model Australian car, as the benchmark of successful car design and engineering in Australia.

The HQ Holden model car became an iconic Holden vehicle because of it’s sales based on a “bigger” choice in the HQ range and the new design and engineering concepts newly introduced to Australian car manufacturing, laying the foundation for other Holden models to be based on in the future.

The public excitement over the release of the HQ Holden was compared to the same pride and joy that was celebrated when Australia’s first built car the 1948 FX was launched. The media were hungry for “news” on this model Holden, as national media played a major role in it’s release and popularity.

Want to know more about Holden cars in Australia? I would like to invite you to get your Free Instant Access to more detailed and specific information when you visit http://www.classicholdencars.com

From Ray Playle – The Classic Holden Cars guy!

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