Nardi Torino Wooden Shift Knob on 2040-parts.com

New service! Buy a single issue of CAR online

CAR this month trials a new service letting you buy a single issue of CAR Magazine via the website – at the same price you’d pay in a shop. Previously you’ve only been able to take out an annual subscription to the printed magazine online, but we’re testing a new, more flexible system to see if there’s demand to buy single issues. Wherever you see the special McLaren button below, you can click through to a simple form listing your postage details and payment options.

BMW takes the Active Tourer Outdoor outdoors this weekend

This weekend BMW will be taking its BMW Concept Active Tourer Outdoor to the annual OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany. We first saw the concept last September, noting that it was a departure for BMW in more ways than one -- with the German automaker stretching itself into segments in which it previously had no foothold. The BMW Active Tourer is meant to preview a whole new generation of small cars from BMW, but one of the biggest changes underneath is a transverse layout of the engine -- a setup that BMW has traditionally shunned in favor of a longitudinal layout.

Renault Sand'up concept

This is Renault's new Sand'up concept, developed by Renault Brazil and unveiled today at the 25th Salão Internacional do Automóvel in São Paolo. The modular 2+2 coupé can not only transform into a cabriolet, but it can also be used as a pickup by lowering the rear bench seat. As most pickups in Brazil are bought for their sporty image and not used for heavy workloads, but rather as an adventurous and fun vehicle, the car makes use of the rear passenger compartment by incorporating a mechanism that lengthens the cargo bed by up to 40cm to accommodate a range of objects.