1968 Ford Torino 1969 Mercury Montego 390 428 Crossmember C6 4 Speed on 2040-parts.com

Government driving down electric avenue

THE GOVERNMENT is to lead by example by buying more than 150 electric and plug-in hybrid cars for its fleets. All fleet managers will have funding allocated with a view to buying ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs) to replace older vehicles as part of the their normal working life cycle. According to Westminster sources, a long-term plan is in place to make such cars and vans entirely commonplace.

Lotus's new 2010 Elise dips below 150g/km of CO2

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 09 April 2010 07:53 The new facelifted 2011 model year Lotus Elise has cut its CO2 output by nearly a fifth to a saintly 149g/km.It's a 16% improvement over the outgoing Lotus Elise S and Hethel claims 'the Elise has the lowest CO2 for its performance level for any gasoline sports car in the world.' Lotus is getting combative with the new Elise, pointing out that the Elise weighs just 876kg – while the Porsche Boxster sends the scales spinning to 1334kg.So how come the new Lotus Elise is so clean?The aerodynamics are 4% smoother, according to Lotus, while a smaller Toyota 1.6-litre VVT-i engine is downsized by 200cc compared with the outgoing 1.8, yet produces the same power.The new 2011 model year (but on sale now in 2010) shows the benefits of lightweight: it'll hit 60mph in 6.0sec.

Clunkers records $2.88 billion in rebates

Dealers submitted a total of 690,114 cash-for-clunkers deals for $2.88 billion in rebates by last night's 8 p.m. deadline, coming in under the $3 billion budget for the popular program, the U.S. Transportation Department said today.