Simpson Safety Platinum Camlock 5 Point Harness P/n 29108p on 2040-parts.com

Saab on the road to independence

You’ve got to feel for Scandinavian car makers Saab and Volvo. Both swallowed up by big US car makers, and both now being abandoned in a vulnerable position after years of integrating their once independent products in to their parents infrastructure, they must wake up every day wondering if this is the day it all goes bang. Ford is simply trying (increasingly desperately) to off-load Volvo, but GM, which is in a much more precarious position than Ford, has now abandoned its Swedish child in a desperate attempt to appease Congress and survive.

CPP to buy Browns Lane

CPP are off to Browns Lane - where every E-Type Jaguar was built As regular readers will know, we’re big fans of CPP and are always happy to big them up at the drop of a hat, even before they acquired Vladimir Antonov’s money and set forth on a mission to buy up the world’s niche car makers. So with solid funding from ‘Vlad the Investor’, CPP are on a fast road to being a sizeable force in world car manufacture; not in the volume sense, but certainly in the impact their products are making. Despite pointing out to us that they haven’t actually bought Zagato (technically correct) Zagato is now very much part of the CPP portfolio, as is extreme off-roader Bowler – a more recent acquisition – both solid names to exploit in a high-end car maker future Nirvana.

McLaren 12C GT Sprint fills the gap between the 12C & GT3

McLaren 12C GT Sprint (pictured) debuts at Goodwood FoS McLaren has revealed a track car that’s not quite as focused as the 12C GT3 or the Can Am, but a bit more focused than a regular road-going 12C – the McLaren 12C GT Sprint. Built by McLaren’s race car division, the GT Sprint gets the same 616bhp and seven-speed twin clutch gearbox as the regular 12C but with new oil and cooling systems and a new radiator at the front borrowed from the GT3 car, McLaren has had a play with the suspension on the 12C GT Sprint, lowered it by 40mm and fitted racing slicks to make the Sprint a lot firmer and sharper than its road-going sibling. Cosmetically, the GT Sprint gets a new front bumper, a bonnet that looks like it came of the 12C GT3, bigger air ducts and wing louvres and the option of lightweight bodywork and a carbon fibre rear wing to push the price up if you want to spend more.