6061 Aluminum Tube Bends 1 1/4 X .049 Wall on 2040-parts.com

Driven: Mini Clubman

The Mini Clubman is one of the most interesting - but polarizing - car designs on the market today. The first generation 'new' Mini was a big success for BMW, despite having been such a huge leap from the original Mini design in so many ways. With the second generation Mini following the first very closely, it now falls to the new Clubman variant to push further what a 'Mini' can be.

Tesla pays off its government loans

Tesla paid off the last of its $465 million government loans May 22, nine years ahead of schedule, thus outperforming most U.S. college graduates and the vast majority of American homeowners. Tesla used funds from a stock offering to finish the loan with a whopping bank transfer of $451.8 million Wednesday, pointing out that it was “…the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.” Apparently no one at Tesla was even born when Lee Iacocca paid off Chrysler's $1.2-billion government bailout ahead of schedule back in 1983.

McLaren 12C GT Sprint fills the gap between the 12C & GT3

McLaren 12C GT Sprint (pictured) debuts at Goodwood FoS McLaren has revealed a track car that’s not quite as focused as the 12C GT3 or the Can Am, but a bit more focused than a regular road-going 12C – the McLaren 12C GT Sprint. Built by McLaren’s race car division, the GT Sprint gets the same 616bhp and seven-speed twin clutch gearbox as the regular 12C but with new oil and cooling systems and a new radiator at the front borrowed from the GT3 car, McLaren has had a play with the suspension on the 12C GT Sprint, lowered it by 40mm and fitted racing slicks to make the Sprint a lot firmer and sharper than its road-going sibling. Cosmetically, the GT Sprint gets a new front bumper, a bonnet that looks like it came of the 12C GT3, bigger air ducts and wing louvres and the option of lightweight bodywork and a carbon fibre rear wing to push the price up if you want to spend more.