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The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

Dacia Sandero: Looks just like a £33k car!

With Renault’s budget Dacia Sandero now hitting UK showrooms, one dealership has been asking shoppers to estimate how much a Sandero will cost. We’ve all been surprised with the reaction in the UK to the new Dacia range’s arrival in UK showrooms, and not just the price. Renault’s budget range is managing to offer properly credible new cars at prices that are almost a no-brainer, especially if value ranks higher on your wish-list than image or toys.

Diesel fumes linked to illnesses

DIESEL exhaust fumes have been linked to a range of illnesses and long term health conditions from heart disease to diabetes. The fumes are a complex mixture of gases and fine particles containing contaminants including microscopic particles less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream. Over a long period of the time, exposure to the fumes can raise the risk of potentially deadly blood clots and increase the risk of stroke by narrowing the arteries that carry blood to the brain.