1969 Cadillac Eldorado Left Park/turn Lamp on 2040-parts.com

Theory test fee to fall

LEARNER drivers will have to fork out less for their theory tests - saving would-be motorists around £100 million over the next decade. The cost of a theory test is being slashed by 25% in October, taking the cost down from £31 to £25, and with a further drop of £2 lined up for October next year. Theory test fees for motorbikes and other vehicles are also set to be cut, a spokesman said.

All used up: Pre-owned sales rise as consumers seek new-car alternatives

Used-car sales took a leap upward in April, and the trend is expected to continue at least until midyear as pent-up demand for affordable pre-owned vehicles jacks up at least one segment of the car marketplace. Sales of new cars continued an unabated slide toward what analysts say is a 30-year low in the United States, but used-car sales showed strength as buyers unable to finance new cars shifted their sights to less expensive used models. As a result, retailers such as the large Penske Automotive Group reported that despite an overall decline in sales in the first three months of 2009, improving used-car sales kept them in the black.

Happy 58th birthday, Chevrolet Corvette

Fifty-eight years ago, on June 30, 1953, the first production Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the temporary assembly line in Flint, Mich. This was just six months after the Corvette made its world debut at the 1953 GM Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Flint line would build 300 copies of the '53 Corvette--all of them white, with red interiors and black folding tops.