125th Anniversary of the Automobile: Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler put the world on wheels

The world marks the 125th anniversary of the invention of the automobile on Jan. 29. Karl Benz filed a patent for a three-wheeled vehicle driven by a gasoline engine in Mannheim, Germany, on that day in 1886, the same year Gottlieb Daimler completed his motorized carriage in Cannstatt, Germany.

Bentley Flying Spur Speed (2009): the first photos

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 09 June 2008 10:12 Bentley subtly revised the lynchpin of its range, the Continental GT, in autumn 2007 – and now it’s applying similar revisions to its saloon sibling, the Flying Spur. The four-door Continental is now available in two models: the basic Flying Spur and the new, high-performance Flying Spur Speed, which packs a 600bhp version of the idiosyncratic W12. That’s enough punch to make the Speed Bentley’s fastest saloon ever.

Volvo reveals C30 BEV electric car

By Tom Sharpe First Official Pictures 17 September 2009 11:44 Battery power is back on the menu at Volvo with this, a C30 plug-in hybrid. The electric Volvo C30 BEV wasn’t at Frankfurt, and the Swedes announced the zero-emissions runaround today – along with details of a 92-mile range, 80mph top speed and 0-62mph sprint of less than 11 seconds. The BEV stands for Battery Electric Vehicle and Volvo’s new plug-in hybrid could be introduced to the C30 range by 2012, bosses say.