At Goodwood, MG chose to showcase its future with the MG Go! concept. Unveiled in a world premiere at the 2026 Festival of Speed, the model previews the B-segment electric hatchback set to hit the market in 2027, but it does so with a design language that draws heavily on mid-20th-century British iconography. The most explicit reference is the MGB GT, the car that for decades embodied the brand’s everyday elegance: understated presence, driving pleasure, and a style that stands out without being flashy. The GO! captures that spirit, not the form: the team at the MG Design Center in London, led by Carl Gotham, worked to avoid nostalgia for its own sake, focusing instead on a contemporary aesthetic built around a few essential yet recognizable stylistic elements.

The result is a car that strikes a delicate balance: meticulous in its details yet playful, evocative yet never sentimental. It’s a subtle tribute to the brand’s entire sporting history—from the MGB GT to the Metro Turbo, all the way to the ZR and the EX4 concept—condensed into a compact car designed to forge a genuine emotional connection with those who drive it every day.

“With the MG GO!, we wanted to create something compact and contemporary, but also welcoming and expressive,” Gotham explained, emphasizing that the goal was not to look to the past for its own sake, but to reinterpret its clarity and charm in a modern way. Behind this stylistic choice lies a firm conviction: even everyday cars can have personality. In a B-segment crowded with generic models, MG is betting on character as its true distinguishing feature, bringing the brand’s signature sportiness to a mainstream electric vehicle that’s accessible and designed for real-world use.

After creating a real encyclopedia in three volumes (plus an addendum with updates, corrections and recently discovered images) concerning the life and works of Jacques Saoutchik, the authors Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson have jointed a new appendix dedicated to the activity of the great French coachbuilder active between 1907 and 1954.

This single book is entirely dedicated to a single car, considered one of Saoutchik’s greatest masterpieces: the first Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport, presented in 1948 with chassis number 110101. A coupé with a streamlined tail and an elegant two-tone livery, this car is the first of a series of just six units all different from each other. The volume is made up of 328 pages and over 260 images, and tells the entire history of the model in great detail, with a preamble on the origin and conception of the chassis up to the various chapters where the set-up and finishing are described up to the great moment of the debut. Further sections are dedicated to its history up to the restoration that took place a few years ago and which is also documented in all its phases, from the preliminary examination to the disassembly and reconditioning of each piece, of the coverings and chrome plating up to the final reassembly.

In addition to the bibliography, the book also includes an overview of the other examples built by Saoutchik and the other body variants designed by the French master, who in total signed about a dozen T26 GS, about a third of those built in total.

Flippable preview of the volume here.

Datasheet

Jacques Saoutchik Maitre Carrossier – 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Chassis 110101
Publisher: Dalton Watson Fine Book
Authors: Peter M. Larson e Ben Erickson
Size: bound volume measuring 21,9 x 30,4 x 3,5 cm with hard cover and case
Pages: 328
Text: English
Photographs: 264 in color and b/w
Price: 240 euros

The art of car restoration and conservation of historic cars is already in itself a subject of great fascination and interest, but this book deals with the theme of the recovery of an Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca, a masterpiece from the late 1950s, with a completely different approach. And it is literally a “cut”, because the owner, the famous collector Corrado Lopresto who is co-author of the volume, decided to carry out a half-restoration, bringing back to its original beauty only the left side of the car and keeping the other in the condition in which it was found. This car becomes a true “demonstrator” of the fine techniques used and the results that can be obtained and, at the same time, a testimony of two eras, an object in which the past time has not been masked or hidden by a skillful restoration work, but which shows all the signs of the years passed in abandon.

In its 216 pages divided into ten chapters and completed by 263 photographs, it tells the story, including the racing era, of the car from its conception onwards and with an interview with Ercole Spada, author of the iconic design for Carrozzeria Zagato, and a description of the story of this model, with chassis number 00170. Made with the collaboration of the design expert journalist Gautam Sen and Paolo di Taranto, consultant for Zagato, it also contains contributions from Michele P. Casiraghi, a long-time collaborator of Lopresto, and the illustrator Pallavi Naskar. The texts are in Italian and English.

Flippable preview of the volume here.

Datasheet
The Art of Conservation: Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca
Publisher: Dalton Watson Fine Book
Author: Corrado Lopresto, Gautam Sen, Paolo Di Taranto
Size: bound volume measuring 29 x 25,4 x 2,7 cm with hard cover
Pages: 216
Text: English and Italian
Photographs: 263 in color and b/w
Price: 120 euros

The ninth Škoda Student Car will embrace the brand’s new Explore More spirit of exploration and discovery. The 29 apprentice designers are building a multifunctional vehicle for camping and with mobile office functions based on the Enyaq iV electric SUV. Will their dream car live up to the needs and expectations of modern explorers? Supported by the Škoda Design team, the students recently came up with their first sketches.

“We at Škoda Design are very happy to be able to give the young talents, as part of this fantastic project, such a tangible insight into our daily work and to enthuse them,” said Oliver Stefani, head of Škoda Design. The Student Car project combines three of Škoda’s great strengths: the can-do attitude, the practical approach and the enormous team spirit. We at Škoda Design are already looking forward to the moment when we can admire the finished Student Car.

In their sketches, the students have already defined the personality of the car. As an office camper van, with battery-electric drive, the first Student Car based on an Enyaq iV is intended to be the ideal travelling companion towards new horizons. A personal space for experience and discovery, which also underlines Škoda’s commitment to electric mobility. The upcoming Student Car will make use of ‘Simply Clever’ features and cutting-edge technology, while also incorporating a wide range of sustainable materials. The aim of the car is to enable its owner to become a digital nomad, working without being tied to a desk, free to move wherever and whenever he or she wants.

The Chinese automotive industry is expanding apace, the result of more than two decades of rapid growth. Against such a backdrop of progress, the design function plays a part of decisive importance, as does the ability of companies to pinpoint young talents with an international vision who can develop their skills in house.

“Rising Auto 2050 Concept” by Su Xinyue, Chongqing University – Winner project

With a view to attracting the interest of young creatives wherever they may be, in 2013 the Saic Group launched the Saic Design Challenge, an international competition dedicated to automotive design and now at its tenth edition. Set up with the aim of exploring new styling and design horizons to heighten the appeal of Chinese automotive products beyond national borders, the competition, which targets design students from the world’s most prestigious schools, has evolved into a melting pot for young talent, and has become a springboard for professions in the global automotive industry.

“Roewe Molive Concept” by Liao Yilin of Tongji University – 2° place equal merit

“Roewe General SUV Concept“ by Jin Fanbo of LuXun Academy of Fine Arts – 2° place equal merit

With the participation of students of graphic, product and fashion design alongside car design specialists, this year’s edition, under the theme “future impression”, has opened the door to new design horizons. By breaking out of the box of traditional car design, stylistic contaminations have been welcomed in from other creative sectors and have given rise to innovative projects that explore the different needs, preferences and lifestyles of future users.

“MG See-Hi Concept” by Pan Yue, Wuhan University of Technology – 3° place equal merit

“Rising Auto OUREA Concept” by Wang Jialin, Shanghai University – 3° place equal merit

“Roewe MEW Concept” by Zhou Yin, Tongji University – 3° place equal merit

The entries were judged by an international jury of forty members including automotive design professionals, design academics, artists, architects, independent designers and communication experts. Among them were Shiro Nakamura, an internationally renowned master of automotive design, professor of design at the Royal College of Art, Coventry University, Staffordshire University and the IAAD Design Institute in Turin; Professor Wang Shouzhi, founder of modern design education in China; and Liu Yi, a famous Chinese painter.

“MG Wave-Rider Concept“ by Wang Lichen, Central Academy of Fine Arts – Special Mention

After meticulous examination and appraisal of the five criteria: relevance, innovation, aesthetics, integrity and value, the project ‘Rising Auto 2050 Concept’ by Su Xinyue of Chongqing University was declared the winner. The projects ‘Roewe General SUV Concept’ by Jin Fanbo of LuXun Academy of Fine Arts and ‘Roewe Molive Concept’ by Liao Yiling of Tongji University tied for second place. In third place, at equal merit: ‘Rising Auto OUREA Concept’ by Wang Jialin (Shanghai University); ‘Roewe MEW Concept’ by Zhou Yin (Tongji University) and ‘MG SEE-HI Concept’ by Pan Yue (Wuhan University of Technology). Special mention for the project ‘MG WAVE-RIDER Concept’ by Wang Lichen of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

(Full article in A&D no. 259)

It’s easy to say “New Chapter”. It is another thing to give it a shape and, in order not to betray this innovative exercise, Koichi Suga has designed not one but three SUVs. At the head of Lexus design for four years, he has seen realised his new design philosophy, with which the Toyota group’s prestige brand moves away from the sedate image that accompanied it. He started with the NX, now in its second generation, continued with the RZ, the Japanese brand’s first fully electric SUV and, while waiting for new non-SUV models, concluded with the fifth series of the RX flagship.

NX focuses on driving dynamics
Thinking about the new NX, in collaboration with designers Tadao Mori (Project Chief), Tsuneo Kanasugi (Lead Exterior) and Masaki Motozaki (Lead Interior), Suga came to the conclusion that the most important among the many functions of a car was the driving function: “The dynamics of driving and the consequent design were fundamental to its entire development.” A man of no half measures, he took advanced driving lessons and obtained the expert driver’s licence: “Driving repeatedly around the test circuit I had to re-evaluate my driving style and, analyzing driving and performance, I had the confirmation that the proportions dictated by the package are the decisive element: based on the distribution of the weights they determine the driving dynamics.”

The importance of proportions
Here then is the “Functional Beauty”, enriched with “a unique character based on proportions”. Part of that uniqueness, aimed at a more agile and sporty appearance, in addition to the longer wheelbase and the reduction of the rear overhang, is the silhouette of the passenger compartment: a uniqueness due, in the previous model, to the apex of the roof that was above the head of rear passengers. “A necessity – observes Suga – as the battery and the fuel tank were located under the rear seat, which consequently was quite high: with the new TNGA platform it was no longer so, but we kept the profile so as not to change that unique character.”

The evolution of styles
The spindle-shaped grille remains, albeit more vertical. And in the new RX the spindle motif not only remained, but was even borrowed for the shape of the bodywork by the designers who worked on it: Jota Kusakari (Project Chief), Nozomi Hirai (Lead Exterior) and Hisato Sawada (Lead Interior). Even the electric RZ, much more streamlined due to the absence of a combustion engine and therefore with a much lower front and without the large grille, has to some extent appropriated the spindle as the theme of its design. “The RX – explains Suga – has maintained its role as a pioneer of luxury SUVs, with a very simple design and extensively revised proportions. It has lost the wedge shape in favour of a more horizontal attitude and has fewer character lines.

RZ, the first electric model
The RZ uses the new e-TNGA platform, made for electric cars. We eliminated the front spindle but brought that idea to the car body. In order to express with our design a powertrain that offers different traction for each of the four wheels, we have placed the wheels in the four corners.” A new experience for the team of Tetsuo Miki (Project Chief), Daichi Kimura (Lead exterior) and Hiromi Yagi (Lead interior). In summary, as Suga explains, the three cars “have in common a new attention to proportions, a simpler and more beautiful design, a captivating and soft surface treatment, but not without a sharp and crisp appearance in the Lexus tradition, thus avoiding being too classic or too trendy because we know that fashions change quickly. We wanted functionality, which, however, would be boring without emotions.”

The interior reflects Oriental hospitality
There is no lack of oriental soul in the new Lexus. Thus, for the driving position and the instrumentation, the watchword is Tazuna, a Japanese expression that indicates a man firmly holding the reins of the horse. In the RZ, this concept is taken to the limit with the choice of a steering wheel in the shape of an airplane’s yoke, operated by wire and therefore with no mechanical connection to the steering. Another fundamental word is Takumi, the handcrafted finish with high quality products that helps to make people feel at ease, according to Omotenashi hospitality standards. All words that, in the Lexus “New Chapter”, firmly flank the imperative of “Functional Beauty”.

(Full article in A&D n. 256)