McLaren MP4-12C Goodwood hillclimb video

The McLaren MP4-12C tackles the Goodwood hillclimb As we reported last week, McLaren used the Goodwood Festival of Speed to give their new road car – the McLaren MP4-12C – its first proper public outing. But they didn’t settle for just having a static display or even a poodle round his Lordship’s grounds for the benefit of the crowd. They brought along their pair of F1 World Champions – Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton – to strut their stuff up the Goodwood hillclimb in the 12C.

Try a prestige car from Europcar before you buy. Or you could just go to a dealer.

You can hire a BMW 5-Series (pictured) from Europcar before you buy It’s always good to have a promotion to get punters through the door, but the latest PR promo from Hertz does seem to have a very visible flaw in its logic. According to Europcar – the leading car hire company in Europe, don’t you know – the best route for trying out a new prestige car before you buy is to give them a call and book a day or three in the cars of your choice. Europcar say you can have anything from a 4×4 to a luxury saloon and performance cars, with the suggestion you can pit a Mercedes SLK against an Audi TTS or check out the differences between a new E-Class or new 5-Series.

CAR’s £1000 support for upcoming journalists – in honour of Phil Llewellin

The Phil Llewellin Student Journalist of the Year award will go to the best student writer from the motoring journalism courses at Coventry and Cardiff Universities. The winner receives £1000 and also a work experience placement at CAR magazine, whose pages were graced by Phil Llewellin’s work until his untimely death in 2005. Entries for the award, run by the Guild of Motoring Writers, must be received by 30 September, with the winner announced at the RAC Club in London on 5 December.