Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

Ninety-three year-old Rachel Veitch retired her 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente this week. She had racked up more than 576,000 miles on the odometer. What better way could there be to celebrate National Cherish an Antique Day?

Parade of Woodward Dream Cruise classics gets underway

Friday marked the final prelude of the 17th annual Woodward Dream Cruise but pre-event festivities have been underway for days throughout suburban Detroit. A lights-and-sirens cruise graced the streets of Ferndale, Mich., during late afternoon, while an emergency-vehicle show ran through the evening; live DJs set up to play through the day and night in Pontiac, Mich.; a classic-car parade lit up the streets in the nearby suburb of Berkley; and classic-car displays have now claimed much of the pavement in Royal Oak. Among local car enthusiasts participating in the week-long buildup to the Woodward Dream Cruise, Kathy Lang and her husband have been set up with their 1964 Dodge Polara in the Royal Oak vicinity since Monday.

VAT-free Alto offer extended

YOUNG car buyers have some early festive cheer to celebrate, with the announcement that Suzuki has extended its ‘VAT-free’ offer on the cute Alto city car model until the end of the year. The deal effectively takes £1,200 off the list price of the entry-level Alto SZ. That makes the five-door runabout just £5,999 to buy, and with a low deposit of £779 it can be driven away for £99 per month.