Corvette’s Sleek Stingray Concept

There aren’t many automotive designs that have endured as well as the Corvette Stingray. Now, 50 years later, some design challenges and tributes have started to trickle through to commemorate one of the great sports cars of all time…

The design here pays homage to the classic shape of the Stingray with the long, sleek hood and bulging fenders. Other design touches include a clamshell hood, scissor-style doors, ergonomic seats, rear-view camera with night vision enhancement, and a high performance hybrid drive!

See the full gallery of the Corvette Stingray Concept

Samsonite Shows Mclaren-Powered Luggage

Bringing the oomph and precision of Formula 1 to travel bags, Samsonite has announced its union with McLarenSport to produce a line of luxury travel bags that will not only ensure safety and security but also add style to your traveling….

Just look at these stylish okes!

Apart from being lightweight and durable, the trademark of Samsonite’s collection, the new line of luggage presents a high-end wheel suspension system that absorbs the impact of bumpy ground to protect the valuables inside the bag, quite reminiscent of the trendy F1 racing cars, which protect the valuable driver inside.

Produced under the “McLarenSport Samsonite Black Label Collection,” the bags (starting at $326) will be launched this year at all Samsonite stores worldwide. How sweet are the little F1 wheels???

The Sky’s No Limit for Audi

Oh yeah baby, this is an awesome sculpture!

It was commissioned by Audi for their 100th anniversary and shows two cars racing 35m into the skies. It was designed by the award-winning Gerry Judah and can be seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

And another view…

See a couple more over here

Audi Plays Different Tune with Auto-Inspired Piano

Cars and pianos are more similar than we would initially think: they both have pedals, hood-ish mechanisms, they make noise, and someone has to control them. Perhaps these are some of the reasons that urged the Audi Design Team to collaborate with piano maker Bosendorfer to construct this grand piano, commissioned to celebrate Audi’s centennial:

Here is their philosophy:

Generous surface areas ensure formal clarity; there are no decorative applications, the edges and lines are sharply drawn, the joints logically positioned. All these are important aspects of the Audi design.

And coincidentally, none are important aspects of piano design. The piano-brushed aluminum pedals, hood-like stand, wraparound body and all will be debuted at the July 16th Audi Forum in Ingolstadt, Germany, and is priced at around $140,000 (about R1.2m).

Have you seen the Racing Red Kitchen Inspired by Ferrari?

Aston Martin “Cygnet” Inspired by Toyota’s iQ

Now isn’t this cute, an Aston Martin we can all afford:

From Aston Martin:

Toyota’s revolutionary iQ platform is about to reset traditional thinking, with plans that the world’s smallest four-seater will serve as the basis for a new luxury commuter car to be exclusively built for and sold to Aston Martin owners. Toyota Motor Europe (TME) today announced that the new “Cygnet” would pair Aston Martin’s trademark design flair with the Toyota iQ’s highly compact and low-CO2 city driving package. The commuter car will be tailored specifically to customer requirements at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, the United Kingdom.

‘It’s a great compliment that the Toyota iQ has been hand-picked by one of the world’s most prestigious sports car brands, a company with whom we also share a strong friendship. This collaboration represents a natural pairing of strategies: a small yet spacious package, perfect for the city driver, finished off with Aston Martin’s iconic design language,’ said Tadashi Arashima, CEO and President of TME. ‘The Cygnet is a good choice for the Aston Martin owner looking for that second or third car, which is luxurious and eco-conscious,’ he added.

Although radically different in size and customer base, Aston Martin and Toyota are united in their corporate philosophies of delivering superior quality, engineering excellence and innovative technology. The collaboration is also fortunate to benefit from a strong relationship underlined by a passion for cars.

The Toyota iQ is considered a breakthrough in intelligent design. Less than three metres in length, its flexible package can accommodate up to four people, providing owners with a new dimension of versatility. Featuring a range of design innovations – such as its flat under-floor fuel tank and asymmetric dashboard – the iQ is positioned as the “no compromise choice” with CO2 emissions starting as low as 99 g/km. It also offers outstanding levels of passive and active safety equipment resulting in a Euro NCAP 5-star rating.

Despite tough market conditions for the automotive industry, the Toyota iQ has proved appealing to a wide variety of city drivers with a taste for style, driving performance and low CO2. The Toyota iQ made its European sales debut in January 2009. It continues to perform in line with expectation, with over 25,000 units sold to-date.

The planned collaboration with Aston Martin is a timely endorsement of the iQ’s superior packaging. The announcement marks a critical step in Toyota’s longer-term planning to expand the ‘iQ world’ – that is, to bring new versions of the Toyota iQ to market globally and expand the company’s eco-friendly line-up.

Buy the House from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Does the garage above look familiar? If you loved the 1986 movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” as much as I did it may ring a bell? In the film, the home belonged to Bueller’s best friend Cameron Frye’s father and housed a tempting red 1961 Ferrari 250 GTO (as selected by Seth Rotherham here) that Bueller and Frye took for an iconic joyride through Chicago.

Sounding familiar now? Remember the famous crash scene when they are trying to set back the counter by leaving the car in reverse, but accidentally drive it out into the ravine?

There you go…. see more pics of the amazing house and get some more facts

Bugatti Goes Back to Racing. Kinda.

With its million-euro Veyron, the grandest of grand touring cars, Bugatti may be a long way from racing these days. But back in the day its Type 35 Grand Prix car was the dominating racing machine of choice with over 2000 race victories at the hands of gentlemen such as Jean-Pierre Wimille, Achille Varzi, Malcolm Campbell and Prinz Hermann zu Leiningen. To commemorate those glory days, each of the drivers gave his name and racing color to one of four special edition Veyrons that were recenty rolled out alongside their historic counterparts.

No word on whether these particular Veyrons, of which only one of each will be made, will be available for sale, but if they are expect a considerable premium!

Racing Red Kitchen Inspired by Ferrari

Ferrari may be a name too big for the average home, but a German company is determined to drive their Ferrari-theme kitchen into your home! It boasts a high gloss laminate in red with lots of black accents and characterises an ergonomic design, of course inspired by the sleek and sexy curves of the Italian cars.

It has a second island, usually omitted from contemporary kitchens, as well as a ‘S’ shaped island with a fashionable sink located in the middle part. There are tall storage and wall-fitted oven units behind the island, the lustrous kitchen includes an electric cooktop, raised about the surrounding table, on a freestanding unit, so you may prepare and serve dishes without wasting any time.

This is making me hungry!

Twelve of the Most Memorable Album Covers Ever

I’m not sure about you, but I haven’t walked into a CD store in years! Since digital media has become so accessible, it really doesn’t make sense to go and pay a premium for the same things you can either find online or download digitally.

This got me thinking. And when trying to remember what I missed about CD stores, it came to me like a well trained dog! Covers! CD covers to be more specific!

Burnt into my memory for eternity, I thought I would spill the beans and give you a list of the twelve most memorable album covers ever… the ones you would see in every music store every time!

Some are legendary albums, others you might not have heard, regardless, you’ve seen them ALL!

I’ve ordered them alphabetically and found a few facts about each one to feed your curiosity!

See the twelve most memorable album covers ever here

Red Bull Racing Fu-hucks Up Everyone in Shanghai!

I’m not sure if you got to watch the Formula 1 this weekend? It was awesome! It was raining! And there were so many mishaps in Shanghai that four contenders didn’t even finish the race!

Vettel leads Red Bull to maiden one-two victory in China

He did it in the wet for Toro Rosso at Monza last year. Now Sebastian Vettel has done it in the wet for Red Bull in China. Ze young German has scored the team’s maiden win after a rain-drenched Chinese Grand Prix, with team mate Mark Webber following him home in second.

Outpaced by the Red Bull cars, the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello had to find some kind of joy with third and fourth places. Boohoo!

Take a look at some of the action starting with the drama of Kubica running into and up the rear of Trulli’s Toyota:

Piquet’s car snaps sideways and careers off, destroying a sign and the car’s nose:

Having been in sixth place, Sutil’s car gets out of shape and pitches him head first into the tyre wall:

Massa seems to suffer mechanical woes and grinds to a halt midway round the track:

Now thats action! Yeah!