Legendary car designer and engineer Gordon Murray has revealed plans for a new lightweight supercar created by his niche car firm, Gordon Murray Automotive – which will be sold under a new car brand, IGM.

Details of the new IGM supercar (it stands for Ian Gordon Murray – the designer’s full name) are sketchy – but a teaser sketch has been revealed at an invite-only exhibition held at Dunsfold Park in Surrey.

Murray says his new car is “inspired by the engineering principles of the McLaren F1”, focussing on combining light weight with driving pleasure. It will be a two-seat vehicle, much smaller than most modern-day supercars, using the latest iteration of Murray’s innovative iStream chassis technology.

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Dubbed ‘iStream superlight’, this uses high-strength aluminium sections in place of the steel used in previous versions. The result is a structure that can weight nearly 50 percent less than stamped metal, while also being rigid and durable.

A sister to Gordon Murray Design, the South African car designer previously said Gordon Murray Automotive “will demonstrate a return to the design and engineering principles that have made the McLaren F1 such an icon.”

Almost every race and road car from Murray’s 50-year career has gathered at Dunsfold for the One Formula exhibition, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Gordon Murray Design and the iStream manufacturing process. It also marks 25 years since the McLaren F1 road car entered production.

A number of vehicles from Murray’s private car collection are also on display for the first time. ‘Gordon’s Garage’ includes two Lotus Elans, a Honda S800, Abarth 750 Zagato and a De Tomaso Vallelunga.

The exhibition is hosted at Gordon Murray’s newest premises, a 1,500m2 building where the new supercar will be built in small numbers.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced controversial plans to ban cars from Oxford Street in a bid to turn the area into “the world’s best outdoor shopping experience”.

It’s the latest in a series of anti-car proposals raised by the Mayor in a bid to reduce toxic emissions in the capital. The plans – which are open to public consultation until 17 December 2017 – follow similar examples in cities such as Paris and New York.

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As part of the work, the carriageway would be raised, making it level with the existing pavements. Extra seating would be placed along the street while an 800m-long piece of art could be commissioned as a centre piece for the street. New and extended taxi ranks would be created close to Oxford Street to allow Black Cabs to continue to pick up and drop off.

“Oxford Street is world famous with millions of visitors every year, and in just over a year the iconic part of the street west of Oxford Circus could be transformed into a traffic-free pedestrian boulevard,” said Khan.

“Whether you’re a local resident, a business, or shop in some of the area’s famous stores, our plans will make the area substantially cleaner and safer for everyone, creating one of the finest public spaces in the world.”

If the plans get the go-ahead, they’ll be introduced to coincide with the new Elizabeth Crossrail Line set to bring more people to the area from December 2018.

Khan added: “Alongside the arrival of the Elizabeth Line, the Oxford Street area will be truly transformed over the coming years. We will continue to work closely with residents, businesses and Westminster Council to ensure the plans are the very best they can be, including investing in wider pavements, pedestrian crossings, more taxi ranks and further high-quality cycling infrastructure to support everyone living and working in the wider area.”

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The new Jeep Wrangler is set to make its debut at this month’s LA Auto Show – but official pictures of the 2018 model have appeared during a presentation at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

In a hastily released statement sent to US media, Jeep describes the new Wrangler as “the most capable SUV ever”. Sketchy about details, the statement promises “advanced fuel-efficient powertrains, more open-air options, and… more safety features and advanced technology than ever before.”

In truth, it doesn’t look a great deal different from the outgoing model. But when it’s a design that can be traced back to the Willys Jeep of the 1940s, that’s not a huge surprise. Jeep insists aerodynamics have been improved – a surprise considering its boxy shape – while the windscreen can be folded down for wind-in-your-face motoring.

The current 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine is believed to have been dropped in favour of a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, along with a 3.6-litre V6. It’s not been confirmed which engines will make it to the UK – or if an electric powertrain could be offered.

We’ll find out more about the new Wrangler when its revealed on November 29th at the LA Auto Show. MR will be reporting live.

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Think the electronic parking brake will mean the death of handbrake turns? Think again – as Ford has revealed an electronic handbrake designed to encourage its Focus RS to go sideways.

Developed by the same Ford Performance team behind the Focus RS’s controversial Drift Mode, the Drift Stick exploits the car’s all-wheel-drive and anti-lock brake systems to initiate drifts by using clutches to lock the rear wheels at the pull of a lever. Said lever is an aluminium device that sits between the driver’s seat and the manual gear stick – just where you’d find a ‘normal’ handbrake.

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“The passionate engineers at Ford Performance are also enthusiasts,” said Ford Performance global director, Dave Pericak. “Everyone here is encouraged to think outside the box, so project ‘Wicked Stick’ was born. Our engineers will leverage the learnings from its development for many future products for Ford Performance and, ultimately, take back even more of an innovative spirit when they rejoin our mainstream engineering teams.”

Revealed at the SEMA modified car show in Las Vegas, Ford says its Drift Stick is available for Focus RS owners in the US and Canada to buy from December for $999. Installation is easy, says Ford, as there’s no welding or hole drilling required, making the modification fully reversible. And it won’t void your car’s warranty.

Unfortunately there’s no mention of whether the Drift Stick going on sale in the UK any time soon. We can but hope…

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Aston Martin’s range-topping model, the Vanquish, is nearing the end of the life. To give it the send-off it deserves, the firm has created a line of ‘Ultimate’ models, limited to just 175 cars in either Vanquish S Ultimate Coupe or Volante guise.

The Ultimate doesn’t get any more power than the 595bhp Vanquish S, now are the eight-speed automatic gearbox or carbon ceramic brakes any different to what you’d get on a series S.

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No, the difference with the Vanquish S Ultimate is visual. Aston is offering it in a choice of three unique colourschemes, each enhanced with carbon fibre side strakes finished with a rose gold ‘Ultimate’ badge.

The first so-called Designer Theme is Ultimate black with Copper bronze graphics for the front air intake, side sills and rear diffuser. A black leather interior is highlighted with Chestnut tan and Aston says the overall colourscheme references the original Vanquish S Ultimate Edition from a few years back; it’s pictured here.

Too moody? Try Xenon grey paint with Cobalt blue graphics, which looks a bit like a piece of designer sportswear, reckons Aston. It has yellow brake calipers and, inside, Electron yellow and Spectral blue stitching for the Phantom grey leather.

Too much? How about White gold paint with bronze graphics, Chestnut tan leather with black accents and a gorgeous carbon fibre fascia? And if even that doesn’t tick the box, you can choose any other exterior and interior colourscheme for free, which sort of defeats the point of offering a range of limited edition Designer Themes, but there we go.

Aston Martin vice president and chief sales officer Christian Marti said: “As the much-loved and highly-acclaimed Vanquish S nears the end of production, we wanted to celebrate its success with a limited run of very special cars.

“The Ultimate edition perfectly captures the spirit of Vanquish and is sure to be sought after by collectors around the world.”

First deliveries of the runout Vanquish S Ultimate begin in Q1 2018, but ordering is open now: the Coupe costs from £211,995 and the Volante is priced from £223,995.

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