2001 Ford Explorer Sport 2-door Brochure-explorer Sport on 2040-parts.com

Persuaders Aston for sale

THE ASTON MARTIN used by Roger Moore in the 1970s television series The Persuaders is up for sale and expected to fetch £500,000. Finished in rare Bahama Yellow, the 1970 DBS was built specifically for use in the popular detective series. However, Aston Martin had yet to launch its DBS V8 model, so it took a standard DBS with the smaller six-cylinder engine and made it look identical to the newer and more powerful V8 from the outside.

Honda peps up the Insight hybrid car (2010)

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 19 July 2010 10:20 Honda is perking up the Insight hybrid petrol-electric car this autumn in response to customer feedback. In particular, the new 2010 Insight gets mods to the suspension to improve the ride and a few more luxurious cabin trimmings. It seems that Honda's taken some flak over the way the Insight drives, and engineers have focused on improving the Insight's ride comfort and refinement.

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.