Anchor Engine Mount 2994 on 2040-parts.com

Quirky cars in Geneva

By Mark Walton Motor Shows 11 March 2008 10:30 Geneva is renowned for throwing up weird and wonderful concepts and prototypes from manufacturers you’ve never heard of, and will probably never see again. While the big manufacturers churn out the same old saloons, hatchbacks and SUVs, the quirky side of Geneva shows us what lateral thinking is all about. Some cars are simply brilliant, some are monstrosities, and this is our guide to both.  K.O 7 My favourite car of the whole show.

Bentley will return to top-level motorsport

Bentley will return to top-level motorsport, new chief executive Wolfgang Durheimer has revealed. Bentley pulled out of racing after its 2001-2003 stint at Le Mans, culminating in an outright win in its last year at the 24-hour race. But Durheimer, who was previously Porsche's R&D chief and who now runs the Volkswagen Group's entire motorsport division, is keen that Bentley will return to the track and revive Crewe's long and storied motorsport history.

Aston Martin Rapide S arrives with 550 horses

Aston Martin is replacing the four-door Rapide with the Rapide S, which gets minor styling tweaks and extra power. Just as they did with the new DB9, Aston Martin has made the new Rapide S a more aggressive car, with small styling tweaks like a new grill and a small spoiler at the back, some minor trim tweaks with the addition of Piano Black trim and a new duotone black and red leather trim, and an optional carbon fibre pack for exterior highlights. Under the skin, the Rapide S is still based on Aston’s VH platform, but it does get the latest Gen 4 tweaks including new adaptive dampers with Normal, Sport and Track modes, tweaked dynamic stability control (DSC) and the latest AM11 engine dropped by 19mm for a lower centre of gravity.