The Car Design Yearbook I.(News)

Byline: LARRY EDSALL

The subtitle for this large-format volume is The Definitive Guide to New Concept and Production Cars Worldwide, and the work includes reviews in words and multiple photos of 127 vehicles introduced at auto shows between April 2001 and March 2002, a timeframe spanning the 2001 New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo shows as well as the 2002 Los Angeles, Detroit, Brussels, Chicago and Geneva shows.

Arranged in alphabetical order, those vehicles range from the Acura RD-X to the Volvo XC90, though there are plenty of interesting sports cars, coupes, sedans and a variety of concepts between those sport/utility vehicles.

The popularity of SUVs in America is one of several topics author Stephen Newbury touches on in a volume that is primarily a high school yearbook for the automotive design community. The book also includes brief profiles of three leading designers, with others to be featured in subsequent annual editions.

Newbury is technical project manager (concept manager) for TWR, as in Tom Walkinshaw Racing, as in the arm of that company that does design and prototype consulting for major automakers. Newbury's major credits include roles in the TWR 3PV (3-Person Vehicle) concept as well as in such production vehicles as the Volvo C70 and Renault Clio Sport V6.

``Whether the car serves as merely a practical means of transport, or as an extension of one's personality, its design and brand will always attract comment,'' Newbury writes in ``Trends, ...