Alfa Romeo Alfetta (italian) Perfect Paperback – 1994 By Giancarlo Catarsi (aut on 2040-parts.com

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.

McLaren MP4-12C vs Ferrari 458 Italia: the video

McLaren vs Ferrari: F1's nastiest rivalry is spilling onto the road, and the new issue of CAR Magazine delivers the world's first deep dive comparing Woking's 12C with Maranello's sensational 458. It's the most anticipated supercar showdown for almost two decades, and it's only in CAR magazine (out 18 August). We've stripped the McLaren bare, to deliver a 15-page technical lowdown on the 12C.

6th l'argus Design Competition announced

This week French magazine L'argus de l'automobile launches its 6th Utility Vehicle European Design competition. The contest runs until the 5th November, with the task to design a new commercial vehicle on the theme: "How to optimize urban goods delivery in large cities". Traffic flow is an issue for most of today's cities.