5,000 Miles Red Stitch Suede Headliner Carbon Fiber on 2040-cars

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Car designer Frank Stephenson wants to show you something ... smaller

Influential car designer Frank Stephenson has often thought small. Now he’s thinking smaller. Throughout the past three decades, he has shaped — literally — some of the most indelible designs in automotive history: the modern Mini, the Ferrari FXX track star, the Maserati Gran Sport, a range of stunning McLarens and down to the funky 21st-century version of the Fiat 500. Now heÂ’s turned his pen to fashioning watches. His Cosmos analog piece, made to mirror “a black hole in space” and detailed “with an orange pinstripe which simulates the supernova glow of a neutron star,” features a Japan-built quartz movement and was created in concert with the Time Concepts company. “ItÂ’s the age-old adage ‘car people are watch people,Â’ so it was a natural step for me to get creative with timepieces too,” Stephenson said in a statement. “The collection showcases the love I have for exceptional and emotionally charged design, just like what is required in designing world class cars.” While Stephenson, who is 64, may be best known publicly for his vision of “affordable style” with the Mini and the Fiat, his ethos also translated to the utilitarian. In the case of BMW in the mid-1990s, the company was hustling to market an SUV, and turned to him for inspiration. His team had six months to complete the project. The result was the high-end X5, which Stephenson sketched during a two-hour flight. In 2018, Stephenson established the independent design company, Frank Stephenson Design, based in London. Related video: Design/Style BMW Ferrari Fiat Maserati McLaren MINI Gadgets watch frank stephenson

FCA inline-six rumored to be real, headed for Jeep Wagoneer

In September, Allpar reported that that clues being dropped at Fiat- Chrysler headquarters, in the carmaker's factories, and on engineer resumes pointed to the development of an inline six-cylinder engine. The site has just proclaimed the rumor is reality, writing that the straight-six, "turbocharged to meet or beat 5.7 Hemi power ratings, with a smoother torque curve, is on the way." The motor's first outing is expected to be either the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, debuting perhaps next year, or the Jeep Wagoneer, debuting in 2020 or 2021. "Tornado" is the purported codename for the power plant said to be just under three liters in displacement, expanding the family begun with the Global Medium Engine 2.0-liter turbo codenamed Hurricane. Engine bay constraints and a long use horizon mean engineers won't simply add two more cylinders to the GME, however. Allpar says the brief is to keep the Tornado GME-T6 — the alphanumeric for "turbocharged six" — no more than three inches longer than the Tigershark 2.4-liter four-cylinder. That means "major design changes" that could include a space-saving head, more closely spaced cylinders, and no cylinder liners. An FCA division called Comau could be called on for its "SmartSpray" plasma lining technology. Allpar muses that the standard version of the engine for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram could get a single twin-scroll turbocharger. Performance trims for Alfa Romeo and Maserati could get different heads and maybe twin turbos, an SRT version might also get both those tweaks. History shows that the Italian versions would make changes to the block, as well. Even so, the Tornado would be less expensive than any Ferrari-supplied V6. A straight-six would put FCA in company with current adopters BMW and Mercedes-Benz, future users like Jaguar, and perhaps Aston Martin. The engine would span the widest range of use cases in the U.S. carmaker's portfolio, though. Potential applications include being a base engine for Ram trucks, serving double duty as a base engine and 5.7-liter Hemi replacement for the Dodge Charger and Challenger, working in the high-end Jeeps, and as a properly hot trim — with Ferrari-designed heads — in the luxury Italian sports cars. The Alfa Romeo Giulia begs for just such motivation to fill the gap between the 280-hp, $42,695 Ti Sport RWD and the 505-hp, $73,700 Giulia Quadrifoglio RWD. And a twin-turbo inline-six in a Maserati Alfieri would stack up nicely with the Germans.

2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo First Drive Review: Fine-tuned from the top down

CATANIA, Sicily — “We wanted to give the Cielo the same behavior and character as the MC20 but with the sharp edges made a little smoother,” explained Federico Landini, the man in charge of the MC20Â’s development. Cielo is the name Maserati chose for the convertible MC20 — it means “sky” in Italian and sounds less generic than Spider, Spyder or another arachnid-inspired label. This new version of MaseratiÂ’s first supercar in over a decade slots in the range as a softer, more touring-oriented alternative to the coupe. While the two MC20s look a lot alike, Maserati ensured the Cielo has its own personality. Same heart, different bones Like the MC20 coupe, the Cielo is powered by MaseratiÂ’s excellent 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 engine, which is twin-turbocharged to develop 621 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 538 pound-feet of torque from 3,000 to 5,500 rpm. While 600+ horsepower is par for the course in this segment, achieving that number with six cylinders is rather unusual. The engine develops 207 horsepower per liter of displacement. If every engine offered this level of power density, weÂ’d have a 414-horsepower Volkswagen Golf GTI to play with. This engine also powers variants of the Grecale SUV, though the MC20 models use a dry-sump lubrication system. Landini told me Maserati felt confident sending a V6 into a ring dominated by rivals with eight or more cylinders because it fitted the engine with both direct and indirect fuel injection systems. This innovative technology — which traces its roots to Formula One racing — adds pre-chambers inside the cylinder head and a second set of spark plugs to the 90-degree V6 to provide a 100-horsepower boost. Mid-mounted, the Nettuno spins the CieloÂ’s rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission linked to a pair of steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles. Maserati quotes a 0-62-mph time of a little under 3 seconds and a top speed of approximately 199 mph, so the coupe is slightly quicker and faster. Giving up two or three tenths of a second to highway speeds and forfeiting a few miles per hour at the top end is a fair trade for unlimited headroom. Going topless also makes the Cielo about 143 pounds heavier than the coupe: it tips the scale at roughly 3,400 pounds, which remains reasonably light.