07 Dodge Ram 3500 Pickup Hood Hinge on 2040-parts.com

VW Pickup concept (2008): first official photos

By Chris Chilton First Official Pictures 24 September 2008 18:00 He’s designed Alfa Romeos, Audis and even a Lamborghini but now Walter de'Silva has gone all humanitarian and designed a pick-up.  VW’s first small flatbed since the Mk1 Golf-based Caddy will take on trucks like the Toyota Hilux and Mitusbishi L200 when it goes on sale late in 2009. It is, but not for long. This thinly veiled concept, called simply Pickup Concept, has been designed as a search and rescue vehicle for coastguards but essentially this is what badge-conscious UK builders will be driving in 2009. The new Volkswagen corporate face with its monobrow top grille and wide mouth is likely to be carried over mostly unchanged to the cars that will roll off the South African production line, as will the surprisingly stylish interior which features hooded instruments and Audi TT-style air vents. Mechanical details are sketchy but Volkswagen claims that engines will be common-rail diesels which rules out the old-tech 2.5 five pot that powers many of VW’s current commercials.

Do You Know the Way to Monterey? Martin Swig and friends know several ways, and made a rally out of them

One of the best things about the Monterey week is driving to it. Thanks to plate tectonics, California has some of the best roads in the world. No one knows those roads better than Martin Swig, professor emeritus of the School of Piston Knocks.

New Audi Q3 2.0 TDI quattro entry-level 4WD Q3

Audi has added a new entry-level quattro model to the Q3 range – the Q3 2.0 TDI quattro 140PS – expecetd to account for 40 per cent of Q3 sales. So you’ve been put of buying an Audi Q3 because you couldn’t have 4wd quattro on a 140PS 2.0 litre TDI? No problem, as Audi has now fixed that thorny little issue with the release of the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI quattro 140PS, fitting Audi’s lower powered diesel to offer a more frugal Q3.