1949 Mercury Blower Motor Housing on 2040-parts.com

New VW Golf R Mk 7 costs from £29,900 in the UK

The new VW Golf R (pictured) costs from £29,900 The best of the MK 7 Golfs – the new Golf R – arrived back in August ahead of its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, with Volkswagen telling us it would go on sale in early 2014. But it’s actually on sale now, a few weeks early. At £29,900 (for the 3-door with 6-speed manual), the Golf R is a sensible price ( at least in comparison to VW’s truly silly price for the MK 6 Golf R Cabrio – which they subsequently dropped by more than £5k) and undercuts the similar Audi S3.

Mini wins 'Car of the Year' award

THE BRITS finally enjoyed some success this summer as the latest Mini was named Auto Express magazine's Car of the Year 2014 at a lavish ceremony in London’s West End. This third-generation version of the Mini is built in Oxford, with engines made in Hams Hall near Birmingham and body panels coming from Swindon. As well as winning the overall Car of the Year Award, the Mini was also named Best Premium Small Car.

Goodwood FoS: Peugeot EX1 concept

It's not very often that I'm up at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Yet here I am, threading through the narrow lanes of West Sussex, trying to meet a ridiculously early call time with Peugeot at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Couple this with the adrenalin coursing through my veins – brought on by the excitement of finally getting a ride up the drive in front of Goodwood's house, home each year to the Festival of Speed – and there's no need for any coffee to wake me up this morning.