New Mercury Mercruiser Quicksilver Bracket 48104 on 2040-parts.com

Cars for College: AutoWeek's list of the best rides for campus cruising

High school seniors across the country have long since moved their graduation tassels from right to left. And before they start buying mini-fridges and extra-long bedsheets for their dorm rooms, prospective undergraduates need an affordable, safe and mpg-friendly ride that will leave Mom and Dad stress-free during trips to and from school. Here is a look at AutoWeek's top cars in which to send a kid off to college.

Ford Mondeo Sport announced

The 2011 Ford Mondeo Sport - only 3000 being built We’re almost up to the next plate change in the UK (60 reg out next month) and Ford are getting out the marketing tools to tempt buyers in to showrooms. One of the top foot-fall makers is the Limited Edition, with extra kit for not a lot of extra dosh. Which as we always say is great if you’d have specced the options thrown in anyway.

2013 VW Beetle Convertible arrives

The new 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible has been revealed ahead of a launch at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The new Beetle Convertible is due to bow in at the LA Auto Show in November  but VW obviously decided it was pragmatic to get an early reveal out of the way before the new Bug soft top trickled on to the Interwebs of its own accord. What we get is what we expected (although we did hold out a little hope the new Beetle Cabriolet would look more like the E-Bugster Cabriolet Concept); a convertible version of the 2012 Beetle with a pram style soft top that sits on the boot.