1966 Ford Mustang Thunderbird Fairlane Galaxie Thunderbird Ltd Dealer Brochure on 2040-parts.com

This day in Autoweek history: Driving across France in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

Today we relive a drive across France in the Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth with Cynthia Claes. This potent four-door sedan offered rear-wheel drive, a Borg-Warner five-speed manual transmission and a claimed top speed of 150 mph from its turbocharged 2.0-liter, twin-cam four-cylinder engine. Introduced in 1986, the original Sierra saw 5,542 units constructed; 5,000 were needed for homologation in Class A rally competition, its original purpose.

Hyundai make it in to UK Top Ten best-selling car makers

Hyundai has become the first Korean car maker to make it in to the top ten best selling car makers in the UK, with sales of 74,000 in 2012. It’s taken a few years to shake off the ‘Cheap Car’ tag, but Hyundai are now offering a range of cars – certainly in the mainstream – that can be compared on ability, design and quality with the best of the competition. That quantum change in perception in the last few years about the desirability of a Hyundai has now translated in to Hyundai becoming one of the top ten best-selling car brands in the UK, a first for a Korean car maker and a real sign that Hyundai is now accepted as a real competitor – not a ‘Budget’ brand.

MINI John Cooper Works Paceman: The hot MINI Countryman Coupe arrives

The new MINI Paceman has been given a range-topping model in the guise of the 140mph MINI John Cooper Works Paceman. Debuts at Detroit 2013. The Paceman JCW gets a convincing setup, with the same 1.6 litre 216bhp 1.6 litre as the Countryman JCW which delivers 207lb/ft of torque – and an extra 14lb/ft from an overboost – enough to send the Paceman JCW to 62mph in 6.9 seconds and on to 140mph (139mph in the auto, not that it matters as performance is the same otherwise).