Hartland Controls Hcry43c067a on 2040-parts.com

Mini takes to the field for London 2012

Although there’s no motorsport in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mini will be making an appearance during the track and field events in the Olympic stadium. A fleet of three remote-controlled, quarter-scale Mini Cooper JCWs are charged with retrieving javelins, discus, shot and hammer, and will cover around 6000 metres per day while on duty. Each ‘mini Mini’ has a potential payload of 8kg, and will be operated by specially-trained ‘Games Makers’.

125th Anniversary of the Automobile: Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler put the world on wheels

The world will mark the 125th anniversary of the invention of the automobile on Jan. 29. Karl Benz filed a patent for a three-wheeled vehicle driven by a gasoline engine in Mannheim, Germany, on that day in 1886, the same year Gottlieb Daimler completed his motorized carriage in Cannstatt, Germany.

Volkswagen T-ROC SUV Concept points to a Nissan Juke competitor

Volkswagen T-ROC SUV Concept (pictured) heading for Geneva Volkswagen are aiming to expand their lineup of SUVs from the current Tiguan and Touareg to include more options in size and ability to tap in to the growing compact SUV market, and having already previewed the Up!-based Taigun we now get a new VW compact SUV concept aiming to fit in between the Taigun and Tiguan – the Volkswagen T-ROC SUV Concept. Heading for a debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week – and revealed today in a series of design sketches (above) – the T-Roc is a two-door, four-wheel-drive compact SUV with a two-pieced Targa roof. In terms of styling, the T-Toc gets VW’s idea of and evolution of its, rather bland, SUV styling with a new grill providing a more original front end (which has echoes of the Nissan Juke but can be referenced by the Karmann Ghia), a coupe look and that removable Targa roof.