1981 Suzuki Rm125 Front Wheel 21" Rim on 2040-parts.com

2013 Toyota Auris: Price from £14,495

The new Toyota Auris is heading for a debut at Paris 2012 and Toyota has now revealed prie and specification ahead of its reval. Starting point will be £14,495 and there will be four trim grades - Active, Icon, Sport and Excel – as well as two petrol engines – 1.33 Dual VVT-i and 1.6 litre Valvematic – a single 1.4 litre D-4D diesel and a hybrid, with the diesel and petrols getting a six-speed manual ‘box and Toyota’s Multidrive S CVT an option on the 1.6 petrol. The Auris hybrid gets the E-CVT automatic.

Land Rover Defender 90 XS by Chelsea Truck

The Land Rover Defender 90 XS by the Chelsea Truck Company (owned by Kahn Design) is a nice titivation of Land Rover’s iconic off-roader. Kahn Design turn their hand to modifying Land Rovers for the residents of Cheshire, Surrey and Essex – the most recent being the Evoque RS250 Vesuvius Copper – but, under the guise of off-shoot Chelsea Truck Company, Kahn has given the Land Rover defender a bit of a makeover too. Under the bonnet is the familiar 2.2 litre diesel with its adequate 120bhp and 265lb/ft of torque that comes in completely bog-standard setup, but cosmetically Kahn has given the Defender 90 XS some of the frills the regular Defender is missing.

Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.