04 05 Dodge 1500 2500 3500 Pickup Speedometer Instrument Cluster Dash 137,220 on 2040-parts.com

India turns the screw on luxury car makers

Land Rover will still be sending CKD to India despite the rise in import duty India’s economy is growing almost exponentially, as a result of which it has a big, rising middle-class with much the same aspirations as the middle-class in the West. Those aspirations include the accumulation of status symbols considered worthy of representing their success and new wealth, none more so than a good set of wheels. So it’s no surprise that the mainstream luxury car makers – Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, Audi and BMW – are ready, willing and able to provide exactly what India’s middles classes are looking for.

Mini and Mini Clubman John Cooper Works (2008): first official pictures

By Mark Nichol First Official Pictures 24 February 2008 00:01 Just take it in for a moment. That’s the Mini John Cooper Works you’re staring at, all 208bhp of it. Mini will unveil this steroidal version of the already beefy Cooper S at Geneva 2008 before opening the books in July, so get saving.  The Mini JCW extracts an extra 33bhp over the standard Cooper S by dumping the regular turbocharger and strapping on a bigger, twin-scroll unit.

Ferrari F450 – due at Frankfurt in September ’09

Rendering of the Ferrari F450 - due to show at Frankfurt in September and go on sale in 2010 But the new Ferrari F450 is getting closer, and spy shots of the F450 have enabled Auto Express to come up with a rendering that is, we reckon, near as dammit to the finished article due to be shown at Frankfurt in September. Sporting a pair of big side vents that have been enlarged to help the engine breathe and the brakes cool, the F450 is different enough to the F430 to set it apart as a new car – not just an evolution. The F450 is going to have to go upmarket to compete with the likes of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, and in an effort to compete Ferrari has upped the capacity of the F430, increased the rev limit and produced an engine that, in the F450, should deliver something around 500bhp.