Cardone Industries 72-3198 Remanufactured Electronic Control Unit on 2040-parts.com

McLaren 12C Spider Neiman Marcus Edition. Christmas is coming.

This year’s special Christmas car from Neiman Marcus is a special edition of the McLaren 12C Spider with lunch with Ron Dennis thrown in. Last year Neiman Marcus offered the Ferrari FF but this year it’s the turn of the Brits again (the Neiman Marcus Christmas car was the Jaguar XJ in 2009) with the new McLaren 12C Spider, the convertible version of the MP4-12C (which, it appears, McLaren now want us to call just the 12C). The Neiman Marcus 12C Spider is a bog standard car (not that there’s much ‘bog standard’ about 616bhp and a 0-62mph of just 3.1 seconds) in Volcano Red, but it does come with the prerequisite of a Neiman Marcus car by offering something money can’t easily buy (although it self evidently can) – dinner with Ron.

Jaguar tops J. D. Power Survey again in 2013

Even though the Jaguar XF actually slipped from 2nd to 3rd in the top cars section (although it was the ‘Best Executive Car’), behind the Skoda Superb and Skoda Yeti, it received five star ratings for performance, service and running costs and owners rated it as ‘Excellent’ across all categories. And it was more good news for Jaguar Land Rover as Land Rover was rated the most improved brand in 2013, jumping in to the top ten (in 6th place) for the first time, with Freelander owners noting an improved dealer experience and Discovery owners reporting 30 per cent fewer faults – and actually leading the SUV sector for reliability. That’ll help the still lingering perception that JLR’s cars can be ‘fragile’.

Fiat will bid for Bertone's dormant contract manufacturing unit

Fiat S.p.A. confirmed it will make a non-binding offer to buy struggling Italian contract manufacturer Carrozzeria Bertone S.p.A. Fiat's offer is one of five for the dormant coachbuilder.