CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW ANNOUNCE DETAILS FOR 2002 AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN CONTEST

ANAHEIM, CA * Motor Trend and the California International Auto Show announced the details of their fourth-annual international design contest on May 1, giving designers from around the world the green flag to create a racecar for 2020.  The winners will be announced on October 16, 2002 and their designs will be displayed in a special exhibit at the 2003-Model California International Auto Show.

The 2002 Motor Trend International Design Contest asks amateur, student and professional designers to chase the winning combination of design form, function and creativity to create a racecar for the year 2020.  The designer chooses the make and model of the car and racing series that it will compete in, with the conditions that the car must have four wheels and be suitable to compete on a racetrack or other road surface.  Each design submission must include a minimum of three perspectives, including a rendering of the cockpit identifying the instrumentation and driver controls.  Entries must also include a brief synopsis explaining how the design was conceptualized, as well as the car's technical and general specifications.

This year's contest theme was developed by Motor Trend Executive Editor Matt Stone, who also serves as the contest's Chief Judge.  "Racing is one of automotive design's ultimate expressions and the very definition of 'form follows function.'  Some of the most honored automotive designs of all time, like the Ford GT40, Bugatti Type 35, the Ferrari 250 GTO and the Porsche 917 were born for competition," said Stone.  "Like our contest, motorsports is an international passion, so I'm expecting to see some pretty creative submissions, both from around the world, and here in the U.S."

Registration for this year's competition runs through August 16, 2002.  The deadline for entries to be 
received is September 3, 2002.  Interested designers should visit the official contest website, 
www.mtdesigncontest.com, (or call 717-566-6100) for free registration and access to the participant 

booklet that highlights design and submission criteria as well as rules and regulations.  Contest entries will be divided into four categories * Design Professional, Design Student, Amateur: 18 Years of Age and Older, and Amateur: 17 Years of Age and Younger.  

Upon the close of the contest, two rounds of judging will occur.  In mid-September, a panel of judges, comprised of automotive designers, Motor Trend editors and industry professionals, will select the top three winners of each amateur category, as well as the top five student and professional finalists.  The student and professional finalists will receive an expense-paid trip to the 2003-Model California International Auto Show in Anaheim, California to attend the final round of judging on October 15.  Winners will be announced on October 16 during Media Day at the California International Auto Show. 

Awards include a $2,500 cash prize for the overall "Best of Show" winner; a $1,000 cash prize for the first-place winner of the design professional category and a $1,000 scholarship towards the college or university attended by the first-place design student winner.  The Academy of Art College in San Francisco is sponsoring the first-place prizes for the two amateur categories.  The top winner of the Amateur: 17 and Younger category will receive the choice of a Summer Study Grant Scholarship or a scholarship to the Academy's Summer Art Experience.  The Academy of Art College will give the first-place winner of the Amateur: 18 and Older category two free online design classes.  Adobe Systems, Inc. will offer top winners their choice of one of the Adobe Collections, entire sets of software to create or design almost any kind of media.  Winners will also receive a trophy, a free subscription to Motor Trend and have their achievement recognized in a future issue of Motor Trend and on www.motortrend.com.

The public is invited to view the top contest submissions in person at the 2003-Model California International Auto Show, which runs October 16-20, 2002 at the Anaheim Convention Center or see the winning entries online at www.mtdesigncontest.com.

The 2002 Motor Trend International Design Contest is administered in conjunction with the 2003-Model California International Auto Show and managed by Liberty Productions, Inc.  Liberty Productions is the nation's leading new-model auto show producer, a division of the Motor Trend Group and a subsidiary of PRIMEDIA, the nation's number one special-interest consumer magazine publisher in the United States.