Dominating the automotive world this week is news of the passing of famed automotive designer Sergio Pininfarina at the age of 85. Pininfarina penned many of the world’s dream cars and is especially well known for his work with Ferrari over the years.

It’s hard to understate the impact his work has had on people around the world, not just on the rich and famous but on car lovers of all ages. Anyone who has ever lusted after Ferraris like the F40 (who hasn’t?) owes Pininfarina a great deal respect.

The amazing F40 is just but one of the Ferrari designs he was responsible for.

He also used his talents to create other Ferrari masterpieces like the 1984 Testarossa, and the 288 GTO seen above.

More recently, his work can be seen on the Ferrari Enzo – another car considered by many to be one of the greatest Ferraris ever built.

He also did worked with many other automotive brands during his time at the design firm originally founded by his father back in 1930. The Fiat Spider is just one of the many designed by Pininfarina during Sergio’s time at the helm. He was famous for not letting a design leave the place until it got his final approval.

He will be dearly missed, but his contributions to the history of the automobile are nothing less than immortal.

Ever wanted to get a behind the scenes look at the operations of a Formula One team?  If you happen to be in the UK in October you may be able to do just that.

Williams F1 announced it will be opening up its facility on October 21 as part of National Motorsport Week. Proceeds from all tickets sold will go to charity.

I’m a bit disappointed that the US doesn’t have a big rig racing series to rival what they have in Europe. Renault Trucks released this cool photo showing their rigs in action at the FIA European Truck Racing Championship in Donington over the weekend.

Speaking of Renault, the company also released images of its all new fourth generation Clio, with its official debut scheduled for the upcoming Paris Motor Show.

The new Clio will weigh in about 100kg lighter than the previous car, and will offer a full lineup of both gas and diesel motors including a turbocharged three cylinder. It will be on sale in the UK market come early 2013.

McLaren has released some rather stunning official images of its new 12C Spider.

Among the features of the car, McLaren lists the similarity in performance between this and the fixed roof version as a benefit of the company’s F1 experience. I suppose it’s true considering the fact that F1 cars actually spiders themselves in their own way.

Here’s some more footage of the new Viper GTS-R undergoing track testing. Vipers have never been known for their amazing exhaust note, but I have to say this one sounds rather good.

It was announced this week that BTCC driver Mat Jackson will be driving a Ford Lotus Cortina in the ’60s Saloon Car class at the upcoming Silverstone Classic. To be honest, I just saw fit to post the cool Cortina shot that came along with the press release.

Also appearing at the Silverstone Classic will be a trio of Martini Lancia LC2s taking part in the event’s historic Group C races.

Here’s something Honda fans have been wanting for quite a while – the Honda Jazz Si.

OK, it’s not the K-series powered pocket rocket everyone was waiting for. It’s essentially just a sportier version of European market 1.4 ES model.

The UK’s Michael McGovern was the lucky winner of one item from each of Honda’s departments including a Civic 1.8 SE and a Honda CBR600F. Is it rude to think it should have been a Civic Type R instead?

In case you missed the insane Hot Wheels stunt loop action from the X Games, here it is in video form. Wild.

Some big news from the world of cool station wagons now. Meet the new Mercedes Benz CLS Shooting Brake.

Is it just me, or is the popularity of the wagon, (or  four-door shooting brake in this case) really on the rise?

Joining the CLS Shooting Brake is Jaguar’s new XF Sportbrake which will be hitting the market later on this year.

Here we see a selection of historic Jaguar models on display as part of an exhibit dedicated to British design at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

In the exhibit the E-type takes its rightful spot alongside other iconic British designs like the Concorde.

Another cool F1 clip to check out here showing the evolution of race car design over since 1950.

Here in the United States it’s been a relatively slow period for automotive news with Independence Day holiday smack dab in the center of the week, but GM released some cool images of the new Cadillac ATS sedan on the race track.

Aimed right at the the BMW 3-Series, the ATS is just one more example of great new cars being built by nearly EVERY automaker these days. It’s a good time to be a car lover indeed.

Until next week!

-Mike

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