Delahaye, Voisin, Bugatti, Talbot-Lago (including the high-water mark Figoni et Falaschi "Tear Drop" cars)

Hope for France: Left to right, Gilles Vidal, Jean-Pierre Ploué and Thierry Metroz

There was a time when "France" and "design" were nearly synonymous, at least in the automotive sphere. Delahaye, Voisin, Bugatti, Talbot-Lago (including the high-water mark Figoni et Falaschi "Tear Drop" cars), etc. Prewar, no one had anything on the French. Even Peugeot and Citroën were in on the action; the former producing the elegant 402 and the latter building the glorious Traction Avant.

However, after the Great Depression and post-WW2 auto shakeout, the scenery changed. Sure, Citroën still had a few design masterpieces left in the tank - the 2CV, the DS and SM. Peugeot made some excellent cars (205, 404) but they certainly weren't lookers. Then a few years back, Peugeot bought Citroën. Since that time, Peugeots have become wildly bizarre-looking, while Citroën has produced exactly one beauty, the C6. Point being, France's automotive designs are a far cry from their prewar glory days.

PSA Peugeot Citroën wants to change that trajectory. Under PSA design leadership of Jean-Pierre Ploué, Gilles Vidal has taken over design of Peugeot and Thierry Metroz is now in charge of how Citroëns look. Metroz might have an easy time of it, as Ploué has to some degree set Citroën on a halfway righteous path. Again, we're big fans of the big C6 and in truth, the C3 and DS3 are pretty much OK-looking as well. Monsieur Gilles, however, has his work cut out for him. Have you looked at a 3008 or an 807 lately? Not so hot.

has been unveiled as part of a crackdown on dodgy HGV drivers

Here's a police vehicle guaranteed to make you move out of the fast lane pretty quick! This liveried lorry, complete with flashing blue lights, has been unveiled as part of a crackdown on dodgy HGV drivers.

The aim is to give cops some much-needed height so they can see directly into lorry cabs. It allows them to catch drivers using mobile phones, watching DVDs on laptops or committing other offences.

The initiative is the first of its kind in the UK, and is being run by the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG). This is part of the West Midlands force, which looks after 450 miles of road between Cheshire and South Wales. A spokesman said: “One officer drives the truck while another sits in the passenger seat armed with a hand-held video camera, ready to film into the lorry’s cab as we overtake.” If an offence is being committed, or the driver’s behaviour arouses suspicion, the officer will radio an unmarked police car following behind, which pulls it over. If the driver disputes the reason for being stopped, the video footage can be used as evidence in court.

The liveried HGV was created for the launch of the scheme, but isn’t actually taking part. Unmarked lorries supplied by local hauliers will be used instead.

It appears the 370Z-inspired rear boomerang lights will also make production

Nissan has named the latest addition to its line up of quirky crossovers, as well as releasing the gloomy teaser shot you see here. Inspired by the Qazana concept shown in Geneva last year, and following in the footsteps of the hugely successful Qashqai, the 'Juke' is designed to offer customers a funky alternative to the traditional small hatchback.

From this dimly-lit photo it's clear that the concept car's swollen wheels arches have been carried over, along with the narrow, elongated headlights and oversize fog lights underneath. It appears the 370Z-inspired rear boomerang lights will also make production, while the windscreen and roofline have taken on a more angular profile.

Slotting in between the Note and Qashqai, the Juke will expand Nissan's broad range even further. And when it goes on sale in October, it should provide a welcome boost for the UK car industry too - it will be built alongside the Qashqai and Qashqai+2 at Nissan's Sunderland plant.

Full details on the newcomer will be realeaed at the global media unveiling on February 10th, but it's public debut won't be until the Geneva Motor Show in March.

This just in from Hard Numbers News

This just in from Hard Numbers News: From 2000 to 2007, an average of 16.8 million vehicles were sold in the States. In 2008, that figure dropped to 13.2 million. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tally for 2009 is expected to put the sales needle somewhere around 10.4 million. According to Bloomberg, that would make last year the worst for new car sales since 1982, when there was not only a recession but also 25 percent fewer Americans.

The good news: sales began to rise at the end of 2009, having sustained themselves nicely after the revelry of cash-for-clunkers. The final data isn't in yet, but Bloomberg's survey of analysts suggests two months of gains in November and December. Predictions estimate that Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan saw increases, with General Motors and Chrysler looking at slipping sales.

The silver lining? Meager sales could "indicate significant pent-up demand." That kettle of demand is going to take some time to boil, but a rise in household spending is penciled in for late 2010, along with greater availability of credit, and a drop in unemployment numbers is in the forecast as well. The road to recovery will be a slow one, but hopefully with the turn of the calendar year will come a turn in fortunes for the U.S. economy.

The most powerful variant can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h

At this year’s Dubai Motor Show Audi tuner PPI Automotive Design revealed a new edition of their Razor GTR based on Audi R8, in which every panel of the body is made of unpainted carbon fiber , just like Mansory’s Aston Martin Cyrus. This feature alone is super cool, and now with the Razor Widebody kit, it’s just outstanding.

Razor’s kit includes a new front bumper, front spoiler, front bonnet, front fenders, sideskirts, sideblades (or as PPI now calls them, Aeroblades), rear fenders, rear bumper, rear diffuser, rear spoiler, and a new rear engine cover with air channels that can be fitted with a Polycarbonate, scratch-resistant and UV coated glass in solid or slotted form. The best thing about is that due to use of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials, the car becomes much lighter (250 Kg) than the standard R8.

PPI also offers various performance upgrades for both V8 and V10 models. As for the V8s, there are two stages which add either 40 or 200 hp. And for the V10 engine, they can increase 60 or 80hp in stage 1 and 2, but there’s also a stage 3 in which they have no boundaries and will extract as much horsepower as you want out of that engine!

The most powerful variant can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds and reach a top speed of over 323 km/h.

They also offer a bespoke package for the interior. You get very fine black leather upholstery with sport seats, sport steering wheel and lots of carbon fiber on hand-brake lever, door sill protectors, driver and radio console surround, door trim, center console inserts, kneepad trim.

The car also comes with with 9 x 19 and 11 x 20 forged aluminum wheels, with 265/35 19, and 335/30 20 Michelin Pilot Sport 2, but you may as well order special carbon fiber wheels (9 x 19″ and 12 x 20″) which are custom-tailed to drivers driving-style!

2011 Ford Mustang also comes with a few styling tweak

So the all-new Mustang five-point-oh is revealed in its full glory! Using a new and sophisticated V8 engine, this car brings back the “5.0″ badge which means a lot to ‘Stang fans. And of course it won’t disappoint them when it comes to action, as it’s got 412 hp and 390 pound-feet of torque. And it’s efficient as well, sort of!

This new 5.o liter aluminum block V8 has four-valves per cylinder and comes with Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) technology. This system results in increased volumetric and thermal efficiency, and that results in faster response across a broad range of engine speeds. It also has specially designed tubular exhaust headers. Ford has announced any performance figures yet.

The 2011 Mustang 5.0 can be had with either a six-speed automatic transmission which returns 25 mpg highway and 17 in the city, or a six-speedmanual transmission with 24 mpg highway and 16 city. These are great numbers considering the class of the car.

Apparently Ford was determined to make the new Mustang a proper handling car, because they went to enormous length tuning the chassis and suspension. The car comes as standard with Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS), 11.5-inch front and 11.8-inch rear vented disc brakes, and an enhanced suspension featuring an improved rear lower control arm and stiffened rear stabilizer bushings. Stabilizer bar diameters, spring rates and dampers all have been tuned for improved dynamics.

As an optional package, you may order the Brembo braking system with 14-inch vented front discs from the GT500, unique 19-inch alloy wheels and summer performance tires. Ford says these features are for serious enthusiasts!

2011 Ford Mustang also comes with a few styling tweaks, new 160 mph speedometer and the tachometer redline which now begins from 7,000 rpm instead of 6500! But the main feature is the “5.0″ badge on the fenders. There’s also three new colors available including Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat, Race Red and Ingot Silver. Other new convenience technologies include:

• Standard message center
• Integrated blind spot mirrors
• MyKey programmable vehicle key
• Illuminated visors
• Universal garage door opener
• Sun visor storage

Design Miami reveal of the 2011 A8 luxury cruiser

2011 Audi A8 – Click above for high-res image gallery

At last week's tony Design Miami reveal of the 2011 A8 luxury cruiser, we were able to corner Johan de Nysschen, Audi's executive vice president in North America, and ask him for some tasty tibits on the brand's upcoming products, including the A8's sexier derivative, the A7.

In addition to giving us the first official confirmation of the A7's existence, de Nysschen revealed that the four-door coupe model will slot in "a little bit below" the new A8 in terms of pricing, just as we expected. Of course, it's worth noting that the 2011 A8 faces a price bump due to substantial increases in content and technology, so when the A7 finally comes to the States, the average model is likely to sticker at around $82,000-$83,000, which de Nysschen says is about the price for a typically equipped 2010 A8 (pricing starts at $74,550 plus delivery).

Based on Audi's new longitudinal modular platform technology, the A7 will be clearly related to the A8 (and the A6 replacement that will follow it), and de Nysschen says that the 2009 Detroit Auto Show Sportback concept car serves as a "very reliable indicator" of what the production model will look like. Judging by recent spy shots from our friends at KGP, that very much appears to be the case. While parts commonality will be "substantial," de Nysschen says that the A7 will not use the full aluminum spaceframe design of the A8, although it will have aluminum elements.

As expected, the A8 will launch Stateside in both standard and long-wheelbase formats, with the latter predicted to make up the lion's share of the volume (the A8L presently accounts for about 80 percent of the model's sales).

We asked De Nysschen about how the two models will interact in the full-size luxury sedan segment, and he noted that:

"This top end segment is characterized by more conservative people, and we need to clearly take lower levels of risk with a flagship model [the A8]. But we recognize too that there is a sizable enough cluster of customers in that same segment who are ready for a more avant-garde design [the A7]. So we will essentially be positioning two cars into the same segment, which means that independently, the volume each attains is not that significant, but when you put them together, it will mean that our share of that segment will grow quite dramatically."

All-in De Nysschen thinks that the A8 will account for about 4,000 to 5,000 sales per year in the U.S., and the less costly A7 could clear 7,000-8,000 additional units.

And what of a high-performance S8 to take on Mercedes-Benz's AMG lineup, or the A5 Sportback? Click through to the jump for more details.

2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami

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