1974 Cr 250 Wr 250 Mag Yellow Painted Aluminum Fuel Tank- on 2040-parts.com

Mandelson to announce help for car makers

Lord Mandelson is the man charged with finding ways to fund UK Car purchases (yes, he of the dodgy mortgage debacle – at least he should know a few tricks!) as the credit crunch has dried up funding, leading to an unprecedented drop in new car sales in the UK. Mandelson is due to make a statement in the Lords just after 3pm today, outlining the help the government is going to offer to ailing car makers. Central to this package is expected to be a funding channel directly from the Bank of England to inject liquidity in to the car financing sector.

Volkswagen Beetle R: Frankfurt debut planned?

2012 VW Beetle R - a Hot Beetle However hard they tried – and they did for a while – Volkswagen never managed to make the reborn VW Beetle anything more than a novelty; a girly car with a flower vase for girly drivers. That was enough to make the Beetle sell in almost respectable numbers in both North and South America, but it consigned VW’s retro effort to the novelty bin in Europe, where we tend to know a cynical marketing ploy from a real car. But Volkswagen seem intent on making the 212 VW Beetle rather more credible.

Toyota Furia Concept teased ahead of Detroit Auto Show (video)

Toyota has revealed a short video teasing a new concept car for the Detroit Auto Show - the Toyota Furia Concept. Toyota are intent on convincing us they’re heading in a sportier direction with their cars, and it’s true that dynamics and styling seem to be coming to the forefront in new models. That intent is demonstrated with the latest concept from Toyota – the Toyota Furia – which gets a tease ahead of a Detroit Auto Show reveal and appears to offer a sporty-looking saloon and a name that could have come straight from a video game – cue explosions and fire to demonstrate the Furia.