One Lap of the Web: The Weird World of Wheels

-- Introducing the greatest television show you've never heard of: "Operation: Mystery!" Imagine if the "X-Files" took place in 1960s Japan, and had its own cool custom car the heroes rolled around in: the Tortoise, a pudgy little thing that resembled the unholy combination of an Opel GT and a Dustbuster. It was bulletproof (not really), had gullwing doors (really) and was based on a Subaru 360 (really!). Sadly, its whereabouts are unknown, and it might have disappeared into the ether along with the UFOs its heroes probably investigated.

Jaguar Land Rover: 1,000 new jobs at Solihull

1,000 new jobs at Jaguar Land Rover Solihull Isn’t it nice, when all we hear of the economy is doom and gloom, that Jaguar Land Rover are doing so well they need to take on more staff to cope with demand? That’s exactly what’s happening at the JLR Solihull plant, where JLR are increasing the plant workforce by 25 per cent with the addition of 1,000 production operators and skilled trades people. The Jaguar Land Rover plant at Solihull is currently home to the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover Discovery 4 and Defender.

Nissan Pathfinder

Nissan has revealed the production version of its latest Pathfinder SUV, first seen in concept form at this year's NAIAS in Detroit. It moves away from the outgoing model in terms of form language, introducing a far more organic and car-like aesthetic. The 2013 model is almost 230kg lighter than its predecessor with a monocoque bodyshell that allowed Nissan designers to create a more aerodynamic exterior without losing headroom or trunk capacity.