2006 Vw Jetta Combination Turn Signal/cruise Control Stalk. Part# 1k0 953 513 A on 2040-parts.com

The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

Vauxhall customers to benefit from Government funding

VAUXHALL customers can now benefit from free installation of a home charging unit for their Ampera extended-range electric vehicles. Following the Government's announcement of funding for owners of electric vehicles (EVs) where they will cover 75 per cent of costs for home charging unit installations up to a maximum of £1,000 including VAT, Vauxhall has now offered to meet the remaining 25 per cent on the same basis for new retail customers taking up the offer. The Government’s £37 million package of benefits also includes additional measures for local authorities to install on-street charging posts and rapid chargers.

Mechanics qualifications gained using Haynes manuals

MOST MEN enjoy a good Haynes car manual, whether they really understand it or not, but a group of youngsters has used the workshop guides to achieve their first qualifications in car mechanics. The first wave of the Haynes Mechanix scheme has seen a mixed gender youth club group, aged 15-25 and from Islington in London, use Haynes manuals along with guidance from experienced mentors to fix real problems on a real car. The donor Volkswagen, known as Percy the Polo, was a theoretical MOT fail and needed replacement spark plugs, a brake fluid replacement and much more, to give the aspiring tinkerers a broad spectrum of challenges.