1941 Cadillac Trunk Light Cover on 2040-parts.com

Britain's low-carbon future

By Guy Bird Motoring Issues 25 March 2008 12:36 Higher purchase taxes for high emitters, ‘traffic-light style’ tax discs to indicate a vehicle’s environmental friendliness and mandatory dashboard-based driving efficiency technology are just three recommendations from a new report that looks set to inform Government policy for the next decade. Published on the same day as the Budget, the snappily titled King Review Of Low Carbon Cars Part Two (Recommendations For Action) was lost amid all the hoopla of new tax bands. But now we've had time to scrutinise it, we can assess the proposals that could affect your next car choice, from upfront purchase price to tax and running costs.

Nissan's DeltaWing goes for a ride at Sebring

The Nissan-powered DeltaWing race car was on-hand for a few laps at Sebring this weekend, and the funky-looking speedster made it around the 3.7-mile track without incident. Granted, it was at about half race speed, but it was good to see the Nissan out on four wheels— narrow as some of those wheels might be. The DeltaWing sports a direct-injection, 1.6-liter turbocharged Nissan engine making about 300 hp.

Concept Car of the Week: BMW Spicup (1969)

The oddly named Spicup, standing for Spider and Coupé, was first presented at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show. Carozzeria Bertone had previous collaborations with BMW such as the 3200CS coupe by Giugiaro. The friendship between Nuccio Bertone and Willhelm Hoffmeister, head of bodywork construction at BMW, must have also contributed to the brand agreeing to provide an early pre-production of the E3 generation 2500 saloon as a base for the concept.