Blog on 2040Parts

Jaguar F-Type: The Expert opinion (video)

Jaguar gave Martin Brundle, Christian Danner and Justin Bell the new F-Type to play with at Snetterton. Their glowing praise  augers well for the F-Type’s sales. A spiritual successor to the legendary E-Type, the F-Type is the first real sports car Jaguar has produced for forty years, and they intend the F-Type as the beacon to hang the Jaguar brand on (if that’s not a mixed metaphor).

Fiat Panda 4×4 & Panda Trekking: Price from £12,450

The 2013 Fiat Panda 4×4, revealed at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, is now on sale from £13,95. It’s 2WD sibling – the Panda Trekking – costs from £12,450. Not only is the Panda 4×4 so called because it has 4WD, but because Fiat want to shout loud and proud that this little shopping car really does have credible four wheel drive underpinnings – almost unheard of in this sector.

Race2Recovery: Wounded vets to compete in Dakar Rally

The 2013 Dakar Rally will include five teams of disabled veterans in its 575-entry roster. An organization called Race2Recovery will enter 24 men and women, most veterans of the US and British armed forces and most of them wounded in battle. They'll take to the wilderness of South America with the rest of the competitors on Jan.

Chevy and GMC pickup trucks pile up on dealer lots

General Motors entered December with bloated inventories reminiscent of its prebankruptcy days-and its lowest market share in 90 years. GM will try to fix both problems in a hurry. Dealers say the company has begun rolling out bigger discounts on many models, including the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu sedan and GM's full-sized pickups.

Land Rover Freelander Black & White back for 2013

Land Rover has resurrected the Black & White Limited Edition outing for the 2013 Freelander 2 with extra kit on a Freelander S for a 600 run. Land Rover does like to divvy up a special edition at the end of the year to give car sales a bit of New Year impetus (and, if Land Rover’s recent sales figures are anything to go by, it certainly works), and this year we get the Land Rover Freelander Black & white Edition. Again.

2013 facelift for the Mercedes E Class & Estate revealed

The 2013 Mercedes E Class and E Class Estate get a facelift with updates to the styling and engines and higher levels of equipment. The restyling of the 2013 E-Class is surprisingly comprehensive for what amounts to a mid-life facelift, with new single headlights replacing the old split lights, new grill – with the choice of a traditional grill or a sporty version (think SLC grill) – new bumpers, new bonnet, smoother haunches and a crease line down the side all the way to the new LED tail lights. Inside, the new E Class gets two part trim the extends right across the dash in either wood (if you’re old) or aluminium (if you’re not), new analogue clock in the middle between the air vents, new instrument cluster, new air vents, new centre console  and new steering wheel with a Direct Select lever and flappy paddles.

MINI John Cooper Works Paceman: The hot MINI Countryman Coupe arrives

The new MINI Paceman has been given a range-topping model in the guise of the 140mph MINI John Cooper Works Paceman. Debuts at Detroit 2013. The Paceman JCW gets a convincing setup, with the same 1.6 litre 216bhp 1.6 litre as the Countryman JCW which delivers 207lb/ft of torque – and an extra 14lb/ft from an overboost – enough to send the Paceman JCW to 62mph in 6.9 seconds and on to 140mph (139mph in the auto, not that it matters as performance is the same otherwise).

BMW M6 Gran Coupe: Offical

After an early leak of photos, the new BMW M6 Gran Coupe – complete with 4.4 litre bi-turbo V8 and 553bhp – arrives ahead of a Detroit Auto Show debut. Just as expected, the M6 Gran Coupe comes with BMW’s 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8, delivering 553bhp to the baqck wheels and driving the M6 to 62mph in 4.2 seconds. And, if our previous experience of the 6 Series Gran Coupe is anything to go by, providing sublime handling and dynamics in the process.

New Mercedes CLA photos & new Mercedes 4MATIC 4WD – UPDATED

We have the first official photos of the new Mercedes CLA and news of a new Mercedes 4MATIC 4WD system for Mercedes’ smaller cars. The new Mercedes CLA – the baby CLS based on the new A Class and previewed by the Mercedes Concept Style Coupe we saw at the Beijing Motor Show - will arrive at the Detroit Auto Show in January (and be followed by the CLA 45 AMG at Frankfurt in Autumn 2013), and will come with a new Mercedes 4MATIC four wheel drive system. To herald the arrival of the new CLA and the new 4MATIC system, Mercedes has released details of the new 4MATIC system and sent us the first official photos of the production CLA – albeit with the usual swirly black and white camouflage – to illustrate where their new 4WD system will arrive.

Mercedes E-class facelift (2013): first official pictures

The four-eyed Mercedes E-class is dead. Ushered in with this facelifted-for-2013 version of the executive express stalwart are refreshed looks, better engines and new safety systems. Mercedes claims the new E-class is the cleanest in the executive class, and that much of the car's gadgetry will also be seen on the upcoming S-class limo. Talk me through the 2013 Mercedes E-class facelift Up front, the most noticeable change is the switch from E-class trademark quad headlights to one-piece clusters festooned with LED trinketry.

Calstart celebrates 20 years of clean transportation

Was anyone around 20 years ago in Southern California? Show of hands? Remember how different a time that was?

EV maker Coda trims staff

Not much more could go wrong for electric-car maker Coda, which has struggled to sell its four-door EV in the United States since officially launching it here in March. But Web reports, first seen at www.plugincars.com, say the company laid off 50 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce, last week, mostly in the sales and marketing departments. Efforts by Autoweek to contact Coda have not been successful.

BMW M6 Gran Coupe leaks out ahead of debut

The BMW M6 Gran Coupe – the four-door, swoopy-coupe version of the 6 Series – has leaked out ahead of a debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. We already think the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is probably the best car BMW make, so the arrival of the BMW M6 Gran Coupe offers lots of promise. The 640d Gran Coupe is a joy to drive with sublime handling that belies its size – and stunning performance from the diesel engine in the 640d – and if BMW has managed to endow the M6 Gran Coupe with the same levels of refinement and even more performance and power then the queue for an M6 Gran Coupe is going to be a long one.

MG6 BTCC Edition celebrates MG going racing

MG has revealed a special edition of the MG6 – the MG6 BTCC Edition – to celebrate a return to BTCC racing. MG doesn’t exactly have a plethora of models to offer car buyers, but its’ making the most of its inherited heritage by taking the MG6 in to the British Touring Car Championship, and to celebrate it’s launched a new model to cast a sporty glow back on the marque. The MG6 BTCc Edition gets a 1.8 litre turbo petrol offering 158bhp, not enough to win a BTCC race but enough to get the road car to 62mph in 8.4 seconds and on to a slightly asthmatic 120mph.

Honda Urban SUV Concept tease previews new baby Honda SUV

Honda has revealed a single sketch of an Urban SUV Concept that will debut at the Detroit Auto Show and previews a new baby SUV. The compact SUV, and sub-compact SUV market are growing strongly as car buyers eschew traditional small saloons and hatchbacks in favour of something perceived as a bit more rugged and more able to negotiate the urban jungle. So the tease photos of the Honda Urban SUV Concept – which will debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2013 – is pointing directly at a new baby Honda SUV likely to hit car showrooms in a couple of years time, and likely to be based on the new Honda Jazz.

New Skoda Octavia (2013) revealed

The new Skoda Octavia arrives as a third generation offering more room, more efficiency and a new look. Arrives in the UK spring 2013. We’ve had a trio of new cars built on the VW MQB platform  recently – the new VW Golf, the new Audi A3 and the new SEAT Leon – and now we have a quartet with the arrival of the new Skoda Octavia.

Radical RXC supercar (2013) first picture

Radical is entering the supercar game with this: the Radical Xtreme Coupe, or RXC. The Le Mans racing car-inspired machine will go on sale in summer 2013 in either road-legal or track-only guises,, costing just over £100,000. Just how fast is the Radical RXC?

Audi teases its future sporty RS models for 2013

At the launch of Audi's new 444bhp RS5 Cabriolet, CAR's eagle-eyed road test editor Ben Pulman spotted an image of the future of Audi's RS brand. Four new RS models due to go on sale in 2013, joining the current crop of TT RS, RS4 Avant and RS5 coupe models. What's next for Audi RS in 2013, then?

BMW M6 Gran Coupe (2013): first official pictures

This is the BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Matching the M6 coupe's twin-turbo powertrain to the 6-series Gran Coupe's slinky body, think of it as a sexier, slightly faster alternative to the three-box M5 saloon. The M6 Gran Coupe is on sale from 25 May 2013, after a Detroit motor show reveal in January.

Mini Paceman John Cooper Works (2013): first pictures

Here we have the answer to the question: 'what would a high-riding Mini coupe-cum-SUV four-seater hot hatch look like?' Granted, it's not a question many have asked, but that hasn't stopped Mini bringing us the Paceman John Cooper Works: all 215bhp of it. Is this the fastest Mini Paceman yet? As you'd expect, the JCW Paceman sits atop the range, thanks to its 215bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged engine.

Ford Escape, Fusion get software fix

Ford says it has developed a fix for the potential engine fire problem that prompted it to recall nearly 90,000 copies of the new Escape and Fusion with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine. Ford traced the problem to a glitch in the engine software that could lead to an engine fire in the event of pressure dropped in the cooling system. So dealers will update the software on the recalled vehicles.

Jaguar C-X75 supercar program halted

Jaguar has dropped plans to put the C-X75 hybrid-powered supercar into production, according to a report Tuesday by Autocar magazine in the UK. The reason is struggling economies around the world, the magazine said, citing Jaguar brand director Adrian Hallmark. Jaguar planned to launch the C-X75 next year and had partnered with the Williams Formula One team to help develop it.

Mercedes-Benz GL: 2013 Autoweek Best of the Best/Truck

Today, Autoweek editors announced the Porsche Boxster S and Mercedes-Benz GL as the car and truck winners at the 2013 Best of the Best awards presentation. Editor Wes Raynal revealed the winners and presented Best of the Best trophies to representatives from the winning auto manufacturers. 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL: Autoweek Best of the Best/Truck "The GL's ride set it apart from the competition,” Raynal said.

Porsche Boxster S: 2013 Autoweek Best of the Best/Car

Today, Autoweek editors announced the Porsche Boxster S and Mercedes-Benz GL as the car and truck winners at the 2013 Best of the Best awards presentation. Editor Wes Raynal revealed the winners and presented Best of the Best trophies to representatives from the winning auto manufacturers. 2013 Porsche Boxster S: Autoweek Best of the Best/Car “As the only brand to have two models make our list of finalists, Porsche showed up in force,” Raynal said.

Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo on the move (video)

As a clear sign that the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is heading for production, we have a new video of the Sport Turismo in detail. That view is reinforced with the arrival from Porsche of video of the Panamera Sport Turismo on the move and input from a pair of talking heads – Advanced Design Style man Mitja Borkert and Michael Mauer, head of the Porsche Design Studio – giving us an insight in to the thinking behind the Sport Turismo. ‘Good design is important, because everyone loves beautiful things’, says Mitja Borkert, although some would say that function has been more important than form for Porsche in the past.

Jaguar Land Rover’s Saudi Arabia plans move closer

Jaguar Land Rover has signed a letter of intent with the government of Saudi Arabia to build and operate a production facility in the Kingdom. When we reported in September that Jaguar Land Rover were contemplating building a production plant next to a new  aluminium smelting plant in Saudi Arabia, we thought it was a way off. But it’s not as far away as we thought.

Jaguar C-X75: Jaguar’s Hypercar stillborn

The Jaguar C-X75 hybrid hypercar will not go in to production. Jaguar cite the poor economic outlook is behind the decision to scrap the C-X75. But the gas turbines soon bit the dust as Jaguar realised the technology was just not mature enough for a production car, so they replaced the gas turbines with a 1.6 litre turbocharged and supercharged petrol engine charging the batteries that powered the two electric motors, one on each axle.

2013 Lamborghini Gallardo IS the last Gallardo (video)

Lamborghini has finally confirmed the Gallardo is now at the end of its life, with the 2013 Gallardo the ‘Final Gallardo’. But the Lamborghini Gallardo is anything but new as it’s been with us for a decade and, although still selling remarkably well, is well past its sell-by date. So we’d half expected that Paris may have seen the first sight of the Gallardo’s replacement rather than a mildly titivated version of the current car, but that now seems likely to happen at the Geneva Motor Show in 2013 after Lamborghini put up a website this week – The Final Gallardo – leaving us in no doubt the Gallardo’s time is up.

Jaguar puts C-X75 supercar on ice

Jaguar has reversed its plan to sell the C-X75 hybrid supercar, fearing the project could be a commercial failure unable to recoup its investment. ‘After a thorough reassessment of the market conditions, the company’s view is that the global economic landscape does not currently support the introduction of a supercar such as C-X75,’ said Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar global brand director. Together with project partner Williams F1, Jaguar has built five prototypes of the plug-in hybrid.

Jaguar Land Rover may build cars in Saudi Arabia

Jaguar Land Rover is planning to create a new factory in Saudi Arabia, subject to the outcome of a feasibility study of the kingdom, it announced today. The move centres around a planned partnership with Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP), helping JLR advance its aluminium platform technology. What are the details of the JLR-Saudi deal?