Peugeot’s 5th Design Competition has entered its last phase as the jury picked out the 10 finalists from a total of 2,500 projects that were submitted from designers of over 95 nationalities. The winning project will be announced on 2nd October 2008 at the Peugeot’s Paris Motor Show stand by the company’s CEO Mr Jean-Philippe Collin. The winner, who will see his project produced as a 1/1 scale model for the Shanghai Motor Show in the spring of 2009 will also receive a cheque for €10,000. This year’s competition asked designers to create a concept car for use in the centre of the great urban cities of the future, while embracing the key values of the 21st century and at the same time, bearing all of Peugeot’s styling clues. Continued

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This awesome special edition Fiat 500 is the work of Alfredo Stola’s Studiotorino coachbuilding and design firm and from what we know, it will make its first appearance at the Paris Motor Show in October. Inspired from the famous Italian comic ‘Diabolik’, the Fiat 500 Diabolika is the 500’s evil twin. Designed and prepared by Studiotorino and Mycrom in collaboration with the publisher of Diabolik, Astorina, the particular 500 is based on the Sport edition of the Italian mini car. On the outside, the sinister looking 500 Diabolika is distinguished by the sexy matte black finish combined with Studiotorino’s signature matte red tail fins, the retro-look BORRANI spoke rims wrapped in special edition Pirelli tires hand cut and built with the Diabolik eyes shape logo , the Brembo brakes and of course the Diabolik insignias. Studiotorino has also fiddled around with the 500’s interior that boasts high-quality leather sport seats that have been digitally painted with images from the comic strip.

Additionally, Studiotorino has also upholstered the steering wheel, the gear and handbrake levers in matte black leather and bright red stitching while the gearbox knob is painted in a titanium color. Moreover, the 500 Diabolika features drawing from the comic strip on the sun covers, the roof even on the portable ashtray and the key fobs. According to our sources, Studiotorino plans on producing a total of 50 units of the 500 Diabolika each of which will feature an individually numbered limited-edition plaque

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In collaboration with high-end audio manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, Aston Martin has introduced a new bespoke sound system for its flagship model, the V12-powered DBS. Developed exclusively for Aston Martin, the ‘BeoSound DBS’ audio system consists of Bang & Olufsen’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP) system and 13 individual speakers including five tweeters, five-mid-range speakers and three woofers.

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A fully chromed –ok, it’s not real chrome just chrome paint- Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 pimped by the German tuning firm Hamann has been put up for sale by the London based luxury car dealer ‘Mayfair Prestige’. Even though we think it’s a terrible idea to begin with, the folks at the British used car lot actually believe that they can fetch a whopping £340,000 (about $625,200 / €426,500 with the current exchange rates), for the shiny Lambo. As they say, love is blind and with that much chrome, someone is bound to be blinded. See photos after the jump Continued

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The new ‘Audi A4 Challenge’ is a typical driving game with a series of progressively challenging courses that utilizes the iPhone’s motion sensor to steer (you simply tilt the phone to turn) a digital version of the all-new A4 and race against the clock to beat your personal best time. Accelerating and braking are done through the touch screen. “The iPhone is an ideal platform to help introduce the entirely new Audi A4 to the public,” said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer, Audi of America. “Audi customers are smart, sophisticated and technologically savvy. As a brand, we are committed to progress and innovation at every turn. We’re very excited to be the first automotive manufacturer to connect with our audience through the iPhone.

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Edmiston, a luxury yacht brokerage and sales company has joined forces with Land Rover to create a program that will see top yacht designers crafting one-off-a-kind Range Rovers inspired from the world of luxury yachts. The two companies will kick off the program with the “Superyacht Range Rover Design Competition” in which seven top yacht designers took part, including Bannenberg, Tim Heywood, Andrew Winch, Terrence Disdale, Ken Freivokh, Redman Whiteley Dixon and Martin Francis. The winning design will be unveiled during the Monaco Yacht Show in late September. Edmiston states that visitors to the show will be able to place their orders for any of the exclusive Range Rover designs that even include a two-door cabriolet version. Delivery time will be between three and six months with prices ranging from €200,000 to € 800,000 or about or $300,000 to $1.2 million.

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Driver fatigue is a very dangerous condition, not only for you own life but also for you fellow road users. According to Mercedes-Benz, scientific studies show that around 25% of all serious accidents occurring on motorways are caused by overtired drivers. To deal with this problem Mercedes-Benz has developed a system called Attention Assist that is able to recognize driver fatigue at an early stage, and warn the driver that a break is called for soon.

The system that will enter series production in spring 2009 monitors the driving behavior of the driver in an attempt to recognize the transition from alertness to drowsiness. In addition to the vehicle speed and linear/lateral acceleration, the Attention Assist system also registers steering wheel movements, indicator and pedal operation, plus a number of specific control operations and external influences such as side winds or uneven road surfaces.

The system begins monitoring the driver from the moment he enters the vehicle using the data to compile an individual driver behavior pattern which is constantly compared with the current steering behavior and driving situation by the onboard electronic control unit. Once the system recognizes the typical signs of overtiredness it warns the driver by an acoustic signal and a display in the instrument cluster with a fairly straightforward advice: “Attention Assist. Break!”

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