1950 Running Ford Flathead V8 Engine W/ 3 Speed Manual Transmission on 2040-parts.com

Aston Martins voted 'best status symbol'

AN ASTON Martin is the car to be seen driving if you want people to believe you've 'made it', according to an offbeat new study. Research carried out by Auto Trader among 1,024 drivers showed that the British brand's cars are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the ones that most Brits think highest of, beating the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley down the order. In fact, the top three positions in the survey were filled by British car makers, with Bentley and Rolls Royce second and third respectively.

BMW M5 hits the beach at Pendine Sands (video)

BMW M5 playing on Pendine Sands BMW has taken the new M5 to Pendine Sands in Wales to kick up some sand and promote the 2012 London Olympics. Regular Top Gear watchers will be all too aware that Pendine Sands in Wales offers some spectacular driving prospects. Or at least it does if you have a couple of willing chaps with spades and a Range Rover ready to dig you out when you inevitably get stuck.

MINI Paceman Adventure Concept – it’s a Countryman Pickup

It’s a MINI Pickup – the MINI Paceman Adventure It’s always hard to decide if a MINI concept – and they’re not exactly as rare as hens teeth – is a real one-off or a pointer to a future production MINI. A good example of that is MINI’s April Fool in 2012 for ‘Camping MINIs’ which turned in to a fully-blown official concept in 2013 as the MINI Clubvan Camper, Countryman All4 Camp & Cowley Caravan. Now we get the MINI Paceman Adventure Concept, a pickup based on the Pacemena (itself based on the Countryman) put together by BMW students and instructors at plants in Munich and Dingolfing and built as an exercise to show the skills and talent of the apprentice programme.