1999 Ford Zx2 on 2040-parts.com

Overseas embassies in London refuse to pay £77m on Congestion Charge

ALESSIA PIERDOMENICO, Newscom, RTR More than £75 million in Congestion Charge fees is owed by London’s foreign embassy staff who refuse to pay it. The staggering figure is revealed in a report which names and shames 71 countries which have each racked up debts of more than £100,000 since the scheme launched in February 2003. According to figures compiled by Transport for London (TfL) and seen by MSN Cars, the total amount outstanding from them – up to 14 January 2014 – is a whopping £76.9 million.

Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying: Hamilton grabs pole for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton takes pole in Malaysia in heavy rain Lewis Hamilton has secured his second pole position in two outings for Mercedes at the Malaysian Grand Prix – equaling Jim Clark’s record of 33 poles – as rain turned the Sepang track in to a lake. And with drivers quickly going on to full wets – and cars flying off the track as the rain took control of the qualifying sessions – the playing field was levelled, allowing Red Bull’s reigning World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, to almost pip Hamilton to pole, taking second place just 0.055s behind the Brit. Behind Vettel is the winner of the opening Australian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg, in the second Mercedes, followed by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of new boy Daniel Ricciardo – who was so impressive in Asutrali two weeks ago – taking fifth spot.

New Saab 9-3 leaks – Saab’s future?

New Saab 9-3 leaks It makes a change to have a Saab story that isn’t more doom and gloom and financial meltdown, but it does seem a bit of a coincidence that an image of the new Saab 9-3 should surface on the day Saab reveals the Chinese investment plans to put Saab back on its feet. Still, casting our cynicism aside, the new Saab 9-3 will be a key part of the plans to revive Saab – but this leaked photo isn’t the first news we’ve had of the new 9-3. Apart from Victor Muller’s musings about Saab’s future, we saw a proper concept of the new 9-3 back at Geneva in the Spring when Saab called the Saab PhoeniX (the 9-3 Concept) an ‘Aeromotional Design’ and managed to allude to Saab’s background in fighter planes by saying the PhoeniX  ‘liquid metal’ forms and a dramatic jet canopy-inspired glasshouse’.