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Genuine GM Accessories are as obsessively tested as the rest of the car during the design and prototype stage. When the production tweaks are being given to the basic car, the Accessories wizards are in there too, mocking up and trying out different creative ways to offer some pizazz at the parts counter. What we're most excited about in this video is the appearance of the new Camaro with some extra goodies. You don't get to see much, but the shroud of Auburn Hills gets pulled back just enough to show off ground effects done up in clay. The rear spoiler also appears to be different, though it's never actually shown. If customized Camaros of the past are any indication, we expect the hottest item will be the big peeing "Calvin" for the rear window and those ridiculous blackout head and taillight covers – this time, they'll be available with a GM part number, w00t! Top tippage, Tim!

[Source: 5thgen.org]

Even though Jaguar and Land Rover might only have a foot or so of visibility into the fog of their business futures, they continue to plan for long-term success. The latest step is a $4 million investment in a "virtual reality center" that will create three-dimensional projections for designers and engineers to study, saving the time and expense of having to build individual models.

Jag and Land Rover worked with four suppliers to create the four-walled studio. Projecting power will come from eight Sony SRX-S105 projectors, each one of them as powerful as the best cinema-standard projector and each one having four times the resolution of HD. With that kind of capability, designers -- wearing 3-D glasses -- will be looking at photorealistic representations of their creations.

When finished in the spring of 2008, it will be the most advanced design studio in the world. We're glad to see the two embattled marques focused on nothing but getting better. Now if Jag could use that studio to make a kick-ass XJ replacement, and make the XF -- as good as it is -- everything it could be, then they'd really have a blockbuster studio on their hands.

With Audi's reputation for beautiful design, it's not surprising that many freelance designers and design students choose Audi as the subject of their design projects. Because of this, Audi wünderboard, Fourtitude, has begun a series of articles "focusing on an independent take on Audi design." Sometimes people outside Audi's design studios come up with an interesting idea or direction that may be different from Audi's internal design language, and this offers a venue to share. For its first subject in the series, design student Luis Camino offers his take on the much-rumored next-generation Audi A2 (or A1, depending on who you ask).

Currently working on his transportation design degree at the Academy of Art University of San Francisco, Luis Camino also happens to run several websites, including one focused on car design and his education. Camino notes that his love for Audi is pretty obvious once you visit his sites, as Audi designs dominate. His drawings here are some sketches of the much-rumored MINI competitor, the Audi A1. We tend to agree with Fourtitude when they say Camino's drawings look more like an Audi design than most of the digital renderings we've seen. More evolution than revolution, they represent a tasteful execution of the Audi look on this small platform. Slightly retro, but using much of the Shooting Brake concept, it manages to incorporate the features that make competitors such as Volvo's C30, Renault's Megane and the MINI successful, while giving it a uniquely Audi look. More images and insight into the design process available by following the read link.

[Source: Fourtitude]

Honda broke ground on its new Acura Design Studio earlier this week, with the company's execs sliding the first shovels into the ground where the $15 million facility will sit by mid-2007. Located right next to Honda's existing R&D center in Los Angeles, the studio will be the center of the design universe as far as Acura's future product lineup in North America is concerned. 

The groundbreaking coincided with Acura's 20th Anniversary, making it a celebration of Japan's first luxury brand to hit the States as well.

[Source: Acura via PRNewswire]