Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

Longtime Autoweek contributor Patrick C. Paternie passed away at the age of 65. He had just completed a vintage race in his Porsche 911.

VW Scirocco Studie R unveiled at Bologna motor show

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 03 December 2008 11:50 Volkswagen today surprised Bologna show goers with another hint at what the forthcoming hot Scirocco coupe will look like. The Scirocco Studie R is a more roadgoing version of the Scirocco GT24 race car – and is a thinly veiled guide to the R20T that’s in development. CAR Online revealed VW’s plans for a hot Scirocco earlier this month, and this white concept car further fleshes out Wolfsburg’s thinking.

Land Rover Defender reprieved

Land Rover Defender reprieved until 2017 - and maybe beyond It’s the news that all die-hard Land Rover Defender fans – and there are still plenty of them – wanted to hear; the current Defender has won a reprieve until at least 2017. It had originally been thought that the iconic (that word again, but it’s justified in the Defender’s case) Landie would be forced in to the annuls of motoring history by Euro emissions rules. But thanks to plans to endow the current Defender with a version of JLR’s 2.2 litre diesel, it now means that the Defender as we know it can keep on trucking until at least 2017 with its new, Euro5 compliant engine.