Mercury Mercruiser Premium Throttle Shift Cables Pair 897979a18 on 2040-parts.com

50 Years of the BMW 'Neue Klasse'

In a year that sees the celebration of the ever-seductive Jaguar E-Type and the characterful Renault 4, it would be easy to overlook other cars also reaching their half-century, especially a mundane three-box saloon. However, the BMW 1500 isn't any less significant. When launched at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show, intrigued and inquisitive visitors were forced to wait 30 minutes just to catch a glimpse of the car.

Top Gear in Icelandic Volcano

Top Gear tackle a live Volcano in a Toyota in Iceland Top Gear is off air at the moment – if you don’t count the endless repeats on BBC2, BBC3 and Dave – and that usually means that the boys are off somewhere exotic. And so they are – this time to an active volcano in Iceland. It looks as if the boys have take the same Toyota they used in the trip to the North Pole – with May and Clarkson in the Toyota and Hamster on a sled – and done a modification or three to suit the heat instead of the cold.

Ford C-Max Energi and C-Max Hybrid (2011)

Ford has unveiled two new hybrid vehicles at the 2011 Detroit motor show, the plug-in hybrid C-Max Energi, and the C-Max Hybrid. Both are based on the five-seat Ford C-Max, and the pair go on sale in North America in 2012, while European sales follow in 2013. Both the Ford C-Max Hybrid and Ford C-Max Energi use an Atkinson-cycle (like the Prius) 2.0-litre petrol engine and lithium-ion batteries.