Orignial Mercedes Benz 190sl Ashtray on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: Fiat Ecobasic

This week we're celebrating if not the most glamorous then certainly one of the most relevant concept of the last decade, the Fiat Ecobasic. The car was first shown at the 2004 Geneva motor show as Fiat investigated how to replace Giugiaro's ancient but brilliantly utilitarian Panda. The brief was: cheap to produce, cheap to own and friendly to the environment.

Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo: 5 to be built – unless Mercedes set their lawyers loose

There are plans to make the Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo (pictured) a reality With the launch of Gran Turismo 6, Mercedes took the opportunity to build a one-off version of the Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo Supercar, and took it off to the Los Angeles Auto Show to sprinkle a bit of Gran Turismo fairy dust on proceedings. There are no plans by Mercedes to build the stunning looking AMG Vision Gran Turismo, but that hasn’t stopped Florida company J & S Worldwide Holdings from stepping up and offering a short run of recreations of the car. J & S are advertising their take on the AMG Vision Gran Turismo on James List and say they are going to build just five cars – 2 for Europe, 2 for the Middle East and 1 for the USA – and say they’ve already sold one.

Rolls and Aston plan new convertibles

ROLLS-ROYCE and Aston Martin have both announced exciting new convertible models, giving workers at the UK-based car makers a welcome boost to their job security. Aston is set to début a new member of the Vantage family, after shoe-horning a V12 engine into an open-top body to create the V12 Vantage S Roadster. It will make its public entrance at the Pebble Beach Auto Week in California, starting on August 14.