2004-2005 Jaguar X Type A/v Equipment Am-fm-stereo-cd Id: 4x43-18b876-ac on 2040-parts.com

Richard Petty Experience branches out, adds exotic-car driving programs

Stock-car legend Richard Petty is in the market for a few new cars: a couple of Ferraris, a pair of Lamborghinis, an Audi R8 and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. That's because the Richard Petty Driving Experience is branching out from offering rides and drives in NASCAR-style stock cars. Beginning in January, at least one of the Petty facilities will offer rides and drives in exotic cars.

New Mazda2 Colour Edition and Sport Colour Edition Limited Editions launch

New Mazda2 Sport Colour Edition (pictured) now on sale Another day, another special edition, this time from Mazda with a pair of Mazda2 limited edition – the New Mazda2 Colour Edition and Sport Colour Edition. Based on the Mazda2 SE AirCon 1.3 litre 75PS, the Colour Edition sports 11 additional bits of kit including Privacy glass, a pair of black door mirrors, 15″ dark grey alloys and a rear spoiler, with the interior getting treated to red piping for the black seat trim, leather steering wheel with gloss dark grey inserts, Bluetooth and body colour for the door trim and air vents. The Sport Colour Edition gets the more powerful 85PS version of the 1.3 litre and comes with 16″ dark grey alloys, Fogs, Sports headlamps, Sports styling kit with interior extras including a 6.1″ screen with SatNav and Bluetooth, trip computer, extra speakers, extra airbags, electric rear windows and a speed alarm.

Maeda named new Mazda design boss, replacing van den Acker

Ikuo Maeda is the new head of design at Mazda Motor Corp. The man who is credited with styling the Mazda's flagship sports car takes over for Dutchman Laurens van den Acker, 43, who has decided to leave the company "to pursue other interests," the automaker said in a statement today. Van den Acker, who joined Mazda in 2006, will remain at the automaker until April 10 to ensure a smooth transition for Maeda, Mazda said.