The C5 Airscape is a concept car from the old school. Citroen debuted its styling for the forthcoming C5 saloon at Frankfurt with this extraordinary show model.

Citroen C5 Airscape concept car

It’s said to be a fresh view on the world of executive cabriolets. If the next C5 emerges anything like as smart as the C5 Airscape, Citroen buyers are going to be queuing up for it.

It’s the front-end design that stands out. Bold new headlamps frame the chic double chevron Citroen-badged grilles, and the bonnet, with its neat feature lines, gives the C5 Airscape real sex appeal.

If this is a sign of Citroen’s future design direction, its rivals had better look to their mettle.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show 2007, a number of “cars of the future” are making a name for themselves.

Mitsubishi Concept-cX

The Mitsubishi Concept-cX is described as a “funky new proposal for a compact crossover with a ‘jet’ fighter” nose from the new Lancer. The raised ground clearance and chunky wheelarches are all its own, and despite the name, there may eventually be a showroom model of this car.

Crossover cars are very much in now. Nissan’s Qashqai is already selling well, Mazda has just launched the CX-7 and Ford’s Kuga is close to production, so people are used to the idea of a car that takes elements from both a regular family hatch and an SUV.

Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One racing and a £3 billion ($6bn) fortune, is to sell 50 of his collection of exotic cars.

Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster

He will he still own 100 old Grand Prix cars, however.

The cars include a Mercedes Roadster valued at £3.25 million and a £5,000 Ford Anglia that cost £660 in 1964. He has been collecting them since he started selling motorcycles and second-hand cars from a small business in Bexleyheath, Kent, in the 1950s.

The Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster is one of the most important Mercedes-Benz of all time and the pinnacle of classic cars. It is expected to break all records for a Mercedes sold at a public auction.

The 76-year-old Ecclestone started out as a gas board worker before becoming a motorcycle salesman. He then setting up his own motorcycle and car sales business.

He even set up his own racing team at Brands Hatch, eventually negotiating the rights to show Formula One on television.

Experts say his collection is one of the most important in the world because of the rarity value of some of them.

A spokesman for RM Auctions, which is handling the sale of the cars at Battersea Park, London, in October, said, “The collection, built up over decades of careful acquisition, is composed of a variety of automobiles that represent many marques and eras. This auction marks what will be the first and only public exhibition of the Ecclestone Collection.”

Brooklands — The Official Centenary History by David Venables is a stunning book to look at. It’s also the definitive account of this magical and historic place. Anyone who knows about motor racing will have heard of Brooklands in southern England.

The author, though, goes beyond the glories of its competitive past and looks at all aspects of Brooklands’ activities. This is a large subject, for it includes motocycle racing, land speed records, manufacturing and aircraft testing, stunts and scandals. It was a hotbed of engineering skills and innovation in its day.

A glance at the appendices tells it all : Outer Circuit lap records, long-distance race winners, maps of how Brooklands evolved over time, aircraft made there.

At the recent Brooklands Centenary Festival, more than 20,000 people visited, demonstrating its perennial appeal.