Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Driven: Jaguar XF

It is possibly harder to design a Jaguar than any other premium car brand. The essence of the firm's highly regarded design language is over 40 years old with the shadow of the 1961 E-type and 1968 XJ6 - and even the 1955 Mk1/1959 Mk2 - looming large. For decades the design group has taken cues from these old designs and reinterpreted them to appease the traditionalist Jaguar customer, but in doing so they have reinforced the 'old-man' image of Jaguar and pushed many customers to Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

What's New - July 2005

Volvo C70 Volvo has released pictures of the second-generation C70, to be launched in September at the Frankfurt Motorshow. The new C70 seats four with a two-faced three-stage folding hardtop meaning there will be just one body style: rivals Mercedes CLK and SAAB 9-3 must wait until the next generation before they can claim the same. Designed as a coupe from the outset, the C70 answers the perennial cabriolet problem with an elegant profile, roof up or down.

Driven: Volkswagen Passat CC GT

Elegant and refined. Forty years ago these two words would not have been used to describe the Beetles bought in droves by the counterculture in the US; a symbol of the hippy movement and the definitive people's car, designed at a time when Germany sought to put people in motion. With the Passat CC, however, Volkswagen is indeed making a sharp move away from the ‘volks wagen', and these two words rolled off the tongues of those who saw the car in all three countries we drove through on our winter holiday.