1978-1980 Honda Cr250 Rear Wheel Rim on 2040-parts.com

British Honda engineers get green light from Japan

Honda UK’s small UK vehicle engineering centre is all set to grow in size and importance following approval from Japanese bosses. The British car development base supports Honda’s main European development centre in Frankfurt but has been taking on increasing responsibility in recent years. Honda Civic Tourer prototype review (2013 onwards) Honda Civic review (2012 onwards) Success here, said a Honda spokesman, has meant Japanese management feels it can hand over more responsibility to the small Swindon centre.

Mazda RX-8 – Just a few left

The Mazda RX-8 - fewer than 100 RHD cars left In an email that looked suspiciously like a warning from QVC that their latest pitched offering really is being gobbled up quickly, and you’ll have to pick up the phone NOW to secure their latest life-changing bit of tat, Mazda inform us that stocks of the Mazda RX-8 are down to the last knockings. We reported a bit back that the RX-8 was to make its way to the great scrapyard in the sky, another victim of the increasingly strict Euro emissions regulations - Euro 5 coming in to play in January 2011. So although the RX-8 will continue for now in some parts of the world,  production in Hiroshima has ended for the UK and Europe.

Jaguar tells design story behind new XF Sportbrake [w/video]

Jaguar has released a walk-through of the design of its new XF Sportbrake, which debuted at last week's Geneva motor show. The video features Jaguar design boss Ian Callum and Studio Director Wayne Burgess explaining how the design team managed to keep the company's first official estate car in line with the sportiness and luxury nature of Jaguar brand. Callum says, "I know it's a very practical car, there's an amount of pragmatism in it, it is functional, but at the end of the day it is we call a Sportbrake, it has to look to sporty.