1985 Johson 9.9 Choke , 319291 on 2040-parts.com

Renault and Caterham to develop affordable sports cars

Renault and Caterham are to join forces to create new, more affordable sports cars under the Alpine badge. The two groups will establish a jointly owned new group – Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham – under the leadership of Bernard Ollivier and will develop models to be sold as both Renault Alpine and Caterham. Tony Fernandes, Caterham Group Chairman, said: "We know the markets we are going into and, particularly in my playground in Asia, there is a huge opportunity to replicate the AirAsia model and give consumers access to exciting, affordable products that marry our interests in F1 and technology and help make their dreams come true." At this year's Monaco Grand Prix Renault unveiled the Alpine A110-50 concept, which was seen as a relaunch of the brand despite it being essentially a reworked version of the Renault-branded DeZir concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

Tesla Model S: European price revealed

Tesla has announced prices and model availability for Europe of the Model S – it starts at €72,600 – but no UK prices until late 2013. The Tesla Model S is garnering some impressive reviews now it’s out in the wild in the US, but it’s still some way from landing in Europe. But at least Tesla has come up with price and spec details for Europe, even though RHD models for the UK still don’t have a number.

Five reasons to celebrate the end of the paper UK driving licence

From January 2015 Britain’s much-derided paper counterpart driving licence is being phased out. This is A Good Thing, ending an annoying bi-partite arrangement that’s blighted drivers’ pockets for 16 years. Driving licences have been with us since 1903, when they were first mandated – but the current, annoyingly two-part licences have been in use since 1998, with a bank card-sized photocard accompanied by a printed sheet of A4.