Ferrari designer to revamp Eurostar

The Italian designers responsible for styling some the world’s most exotic cars, including Ferraris and Maseratis, are to give a make over to Eurostar, the high-speed rail passenger service that links Britain and mainland Europe.

Eurostar launched in 1994 and its twenty-eight trains are now deserving of a revamp.

Pininfarina will be responsible for the full interior design including styling and engineering, as well as new exterior livery. Although best known for its work with car makers, Pininfarina has designed buses, trains and electric vehicles.

Eurostar will carry up to 200,000 passengers this Easter, from Thursday 9 April to Tuesday 14 April.

From electric trains to electric bikes

It’s as iconic an image of traditional France as the beret or baguette, but the ‘Velo Solex’ has had a dramatic makeover at the hands of Pininfarina.

Its latest project is relatively humble, but certainly more practical – the e-solex is a budget electric scooter that costs less than £1000.

The original Solex (see right) was invented in 1946 as a cheap means of motorised transport for postwar France.

It was little more than a bicycle with a tiny petrol engine sitting over the front wheel, but it worked surprisingly well and became hugely popular.

What is the ETA?

The ETA provides motorists and cyclists with green breakdown cover and green bicycle insurance products. As well as encouraging responsible driving to reduce carbon, the ETA campaigns for sustainable transport.