Rear Track Bar (rhd) - Crown# 52088175 on 2040-parts.com

The Mini is 50 years old today

  Today - 08/05/2009 - is the 50th anniversary of the first Mini rolling off the production line. To celebrate, and for a bit of free publicity (see, we’re playing the game) BMW has shipped the first Mini to roll of the production line back to Cowley to celebrate (picture at the bottom). 621 AOK, a Mini Minor, in Old English White, looks as fresh as the day it rolled off the production line half a century ago (although I wouldn’t mind betting it doesn’t have it’s original sills – they always rusted through – or copes with its original distributor and leads – one splash of rain and the car ground to a halt!).

BMW: The fastest Christmas song…in the world

BMW has enlisted the BMW M135i, DTM driver Martin Tomczyk and the Zurich Acapella Group to create the fastest Christmas song in the world. The BMW M135i may not be a ‘real’ BMW M car, but it’s still mighty swift. With its 3.0 litre straight six complete with Twin Scroll Turbo it delivers 315bhp and can get to 62mph (with the auto ‘box) in an impressive 4.9 seconds.

Call for ban on in-car hands-free phones

Road safety charity Brake is calling for a blanket ban on in-car hands-free phone systems. Using a hand-held phone while driving is already illegal in the UK, so a proposal to prohibit even hands-free kits would completely eradicate calling from behind the wheel. On Bing: see pictures of people using mobile phones while driving 1 in 3 use mobile phone behind the wheel A decade on from when the mobile phone ban was introduced, Brake is asking the government to assess its policy on all forms of telephone communication while driving.