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Glickenhaus may enter LMP1 class at Le Mans

James Glickenhaus, the man who brought you the Ferrari P4/5, is working on a new car to be used in top-level endurance racing such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, possibly as early as 2014. Recently, sketches of the car—currently called the P4/5 Competizione LMP—have made their way to the Internet. Glickenhaus made his money in the stock market and film industry, but he became a household name among car guys when he commissioned the one-of-one Ferrari P4/5 Pininfarina.

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

Vauxhall Adam price from £11,255: Paris 2012

The Vauxhall Adam – Vauxhall and Opel’s MINI competitor – will start from £11,255 when it goes on sale in January 2013. And with prices announced from £11,255 it looks like the Adam may just have a fighting chance of taking a piece of the market dominated by MINI and the Fiat 500. Of course, GM are hoping that no one who goes in to a Vauxhall showroom will go out with a basic car – a vast array of style and customisation options are the order of the day with the Adam – but the headline starting point is a decent one.