2004 Mazda 3 Tuner/recvr, Trim Panel, Am-fm-cd, Sgl Cd Player on 2040-parts.com

Ford Cortina: 50 years ago today…

Ford are celebrating 50 years since the first Ford Cortina was launched and changed the car landscape forever. The Ford Cortina went on to sell an impressive 4.3 million during its twenty year life, eventually turning in to the Ford Sierra and then in to the Ford family car of today – the 2013 Ford Mondeo (which, interestingly, can be had with the 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine – smaller even than the 1200cc of that first Cortina). That first Cortina was the start of Ford’s dominance of the UK car market, leading to an unbroken run of 35 years as the best selling car brand with most of the Cortinas, almost 3 million of them, built at Dagenham – in the days Ford actually built cars here.

BMW 'Dwelling Lab' project

One of the most interesting pieces of work shown at the recent Milan Design Week was 'The Dwelling Lab', collaboration between BMW, Flos Lighting and Kvadrat fabrics. Artists Patricia Urquiola and Guilio Ridolfo were commissioned to effectively turn a BMW 5 Series GT inside out. The car is 'exploded' - with five giant cone-like structures growing out of the windscreen, door openings etc.

The McLaren 650S is quicker than the legendary McLaren F1

We know what the McLaren 650S looks like thanks to photos that leaked ahead of the Geneva motor show debut, and now we know how the hopped-up, track-oriented take on the MP4 should perform. According to McLaren, the 650S has a 0-62 mph time of just 3.0 seconds. 0-124 mph takes 8.4 seconds; a quarter mile flies by in 10.5 seconds.