pininfarina

It seems a bit odd calling this the 28th Annual Dana Point Concours d'Elegance when it's only been in this city for three years and has only had that name officially for one, but after spending a good portion of Sunday at the St. Regis and its Monarch Bay golf course, it really felt like this is where this show was always meant to be. With dramatic views of the ocean, the rolling greenery of the links and the surrounding mansions, the venue feels like it was built solely to play host to Southern California's premiere concours.

Intriguing news comes by way of BusinessWeek this afternoon indicating that Saab has hired American designer Jason Castriota to serve as its head designer. Surely you remember Castriota, the man responsible for such memorable designs as James Glickenhaus' one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina and the somewhat controversial but striking Bertone Mantide.

1960 Pininfarina X Concept - Click above for image gallery

The Space Age was all the rage back in the late 50s and early 60s. Man was heading to the moon, the Jetsons were captivating our imaginations and even items as mundane as toasters and hairdryers looked like space ships. Car design was certainly no exception, and this was one of the most radical examples.

We're working off a machine-translated web page, so bear with us, but it looks like legendary Seventies marquee De Tomaso is being resurrected once again. This time by a wealthy Italian industrialist named Gian Mario Rossingnolo. Looks like Signor Rossingnolo has already purchased a Pininfarina factory in which to build the new De Tamasos, and tried (unsuccessfully) to rescue Bertone earlier this year.

Due principally to debt, the family owners of Pininfarina S.p.A. have contracted with Italy's Banca Leonardo to help them sell 50.7 percent of their stake in the design/contract manufacturing business. Said a source, "It is a commitment [the Pininfarina family] made with the banks. The family has no intention of leaving completely." Sure, but who will buy controlling interest of such a storied company? Have you met our Indian friend Tata?

Unless you've got access to a continent-gobbling exotic GT and an immunity to speeding tickets, everyone who's ever traveled Europe knows that the preferred way of getting around the Old World is via train. (Heck, even us car-crazed nuts here at Autoblog take the train for European auto shows.) But for one high-speed train service, the experience is about to get a little bit more... automotive.

In an ideal world, who wouldn't want to have a distinguished coachbuilder like Pininfarina create their own unique Rolls-Royce cabrio? Unfortunately, an ideal world this is not, and most of us don't have those kinds of resources at our disposal. "Most of us" apparently now includes the customer that commissioned the one-off Rolls-Royce Hyperion in the first place.

Got some time to burn? Of course you do! iMotor Mag has created a game to punish the wayward children of esteemed Italian design houses. Where designers such as Pininfarina and Bertone have penned gems like the Ferrari F599 and the Lamborghini Miura, they have also thrust the Peugeot 1007 and Skoda Favorit on unwary car shoppers (hey, even designers have to eat...).