K Source/fit System 70063t Door Mirror Passenger Side on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes AMG has best year ever

With car sales plummeting in 2008 (and likely to be worse in 2009) there aren’t many bright spots around. But performance saloons are certainly one of them. As we reported back in December, BMW’s M Division had a cracking year, with sales of nearly 27,000 for the year.

Mini and Mini Clubman John Cooper Works (2008): first official pictures

By Mark Nichol First Official Pictures 24 February 2008 00:01 Just take it in for a moment. That’s the Mini John Cooper Works you’re staring at, all 208bhp of it. Mini will unveil this steroidal version of the already beefy Cooper S at Geneva 2008 before opening the books in July, so get saving.  The Mini JCW extracts an extra 33bhp over the standard Cooper S by dumping the regular turbocharger and strapping on a bigger, twin-scroll unit.

Lexus IS 250C launches

The Lexus IS 250C launched in Japan this week - and will reach the UK in July The IS Convertible comes in two flavours – the Lexus IS250 C and the 350C – although the initial launch is just the IS 250C. The IS 350C will launch later in the year. Lexus has been working on the IS Convertible for some time, and is aiming it straight in the sites of similar offerings from both BMW and Audi.