AutoDesignNight London

AutoDesignNight re-affirmed its place at the epicentre of car design last night at its exclusive, high-profile networking evening in central London.

The event, which took place at The Island nightclub in Charing Cross, was attended by 200 of the world's leading automotive designers celebrating the opening of this year's London Motor Show.

The evening was marked by the presentation of a retrospective award to Martin Smith, one of the leading lights of the automotive design industry and the man behind the iconic Audi Quattro, as well as many other celebrated automotive designs.

Smith, who is currently executive design director for Ford of Europe, began his career at Porsche in 1973 before moving to Audi in 1977, where he spent the majority of the 1980s and 1990s.

The event was supported by a number of the industry's leading suppliers, including the advance design and pre-production concept builders - Concept Group International.

Joe Molloy, chief executive of Concept Group, presented the award - an oil painting of Smith's own Austin Healey - and noted: "We are delighted to play a role in this leading event for the automotive design community.

It is extraordinary to see so many notable design leaders here tonight and I feel immensely privileged to present this award to Martin."