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Top Gear Series 21: The tease begins, but when does the new series of Top Gear start?

Top Gear Series 21 – the tease begins (video below) The new series of Top Gear – Series 21 – is due to start some time soon, although exactly when is still a little in doubt as the BBC are staying tight-lipped. That said, they have released the first – very short – tease video (below) for the new series with Jeremy Clarkson sitting in what looks like a VW up! moaning about the number of lorries he’s encountering.

Bentley Continental Estate – Carrazzeria to make a Bentley Shooting Brake

The Bentley Continental Shooting Brake by Carrozzeria A week or two back we got the sniff that Italian Coachbuilders Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera where planning on building a limited run car based on the Bentley Continental. The rumours were vague – even from Carrozzeria who simply stated “Inspired by the success and the extraordinary characteristics of Bentley automobiles, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera of Milan, with the support of Bentley Motors Limited, developed and built a fascinating new coach built Bentley, faithful to its long tradition of Italian coach building.” Which told us not a whole lot. But we now know that what Carrazzeria are planning is a Bentley Continental Shooting Brake – effectively a Bentley Continental GT Estate.

Tesla asks NHTSA to investigate fires

In response to concerns following a recent accident which appeared to result from road debris damaging the underside of a battery compartment of a Tesla Model S, causing a fire in the engine compartment, the company has announced that it has requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation into the fire incidents. In a blog post, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote the following about the investigation: "While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars. Given that the incidence of fires in the Model S is far lower than combustion cars and that there have been no resulting injuries, this did not at first seem like a good use of NHTSA's time compared to the hundreds of gasoline fire deaths per year that warrant their attention." Tesla has also released a software update to the cars which will maintain their standard ride height at highway speeds, preventing the air suspension from lowering the car an extra inch at highway speeds for greater aerodynamic efficiency.