Autoblog

Our sources indicate this rendering from OmniAuto.it is very close to what Audi's upcoming Q5 will look like. Although this looks like a photograph on an Italian web site, it is really a rendering that looks nearly identical to the Q5 spy shots we showed you in February. When it debuts later this month at the Beijing Motor Show, expect the engine to be a longitudinal (north-south) mount, to allow a variety of powerplants including V8 and TDI derivatives. Thanks for the tip, Andrea!

[Source: OmniAuto]

Following the Smart Roadster's dismal sales failure, the rights and equipment to build it were sold to a British engineering firm called Project Kimber, which, as we reported earlier, will use the diminutive barchetta to resurrect the old AC brand. Although the first sketches didn't show much change from the Smart's design, Project Kimber has now released a new rendering of the revised car, featuring some differentiating design elements. Most obvious are the new front end and the Lamborghini-style scissor doors, which may or may not make it to production.

The AC will be built in both coupe and roadster body-styles at a site in the UK. Project Kimber is amassing a $65 million investment and has ironed out a deal with DCX for the Smart Roadster's original manufacturing equipment.

The rendering isn't much to go on, but considering some of the names involved – like Gordon Murray (of McLaren design fame) and John Piper (from the JCB Dieselmax land speed record project) – this should be interesting.

[Source: Motor Authority]

The Porsche Panamera four-door coupe is not scheduled for release until 2008, but with spy shots of a test mule running the Nurburgring in Germany having already infiltrated the internet, armchair designers like ourselves are already critiquing the car's shape. Infomotori.co.uk has commissioned a series of renderings that show the Panamera as a collaboration between what they think the Porsche sedan will look like and what they hope it will look like. There's a tension there, as the mule seen in test shots hasn't received the most favorable of judgments so far. These renderings, however, show a more stout Panamera with a taller front fascia that gives the car some visual weight. The mesh grille flanked by LED fog lamps is sharp, although the Infomotori people keep it real by giving their rendering 996-style headlights, which the actual production car is rumored to have. Follow the Read link to check out their rendering from every angle and see if their vision for Porsche's first foray into the four-door world looks better than the real thing.

[Source: Infomotori.co.uk]

Related posts:

• More Porsche Panamera spy shots
• BMW's CLS fighter for 2009
• VIDEO Nirvana - prototypes running the Ring

Wheels24 has produced a sketch of what it believes the next Audi A4 will look like based on insider info and analysis of recent Audi design trends. The A4's face appears much more aggressive the the current model's, with headlights angled down towards the large grille and similar LED light bars to those currently found on the S6. As we mentioned in the first part of our In the Autoblog Garage review of the Audi A3 and VW GTI (the final two are on their way!), the A3's front fascia benefits greatly from the "angry eyes" look, and it also looks good on the A4 in this conceptual sketch.

The website is also postulating the A4 will move further upmarket to give the A3 some more breathing room in its own segment. This means that build quality will be improving, as well as road manners, in an effort to meet the standards set by the BMW 3-Series. On account of this, the the next A4 probably won't be offered with the 1.8T engine as its base motor, but rather the new 200-hp, 2.0L FSI units.

[Source: Wheels24 via Winding Road]