27/11r14 Reptile on 2040-parts.com

Volcanic Ash – bad for your car’s paintwork

Volcanic ash on the back of our test Range Rover Sport Who says we don’t do consumer advice at Cars UK? We know that the Government claims every jet will fall out of the sky if they fly with even a cup full of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. The argument goes that all that dust and stone and rubbish will get sucked in to the engines, melt and then solidify to trash the engine.

Peugeot 308 CC (2008): first photos

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 11 July 2008 09:26 Peugeot – the pioneer of folding hard tops – today unveils the new 308 CC. It's not a radical coupe cabriolet, but it's a gentle evolution of the 307 CC blueprint: a four-seater family hatch turned convertible.The French company invented the first production opening metal roof back in the 1930s, after a few coachbuilders toyed with low-volume concepts, and then brought them to the mainstream with the 206 CC in 2001. The new 308 CC follows the same formula with a metal roof that somersaults into its loadbed in 20 seconds to leave a completely flat (if long) rear deck.Gobbling boot space as it goes?Naturally, the  boot shrinks when the roof is lowered, dipping from 465 litres to 266 when it's stowed.

Designer Interviews: Giorgetto Giugiaro

Ask any aficionado who the greatest car designer of all time is and Giorgetto Giugiaro will be the name on most lips. Responsible for more than 200 vehicles, equating to some 60-million production cars on the road as well as dozens of concepts for the world's finest car brands – not to mention cameras for Nikon, electronic organs for Bontempi and even a type of pasta – he is without equal. Born on 7 August 1938 in Garessio, northern Italy, he started his career with Fiat in the mid-1950s, aged 17.