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

Four Decades Of Speedy Skodas Celebrated

CZECH car maker Skoda is celebrating 40 years of performance motoring. The Skoda RS story began in 1974 with the Skoda 180 RS and 200 RS racing cars. The legendary Skoda 130 RS in the 1970s and 1980s was one of the most successful sports cars of its time.

Volvo C30: now starts under £15k

Volvo C30 ES 2.0 - now starts at £14,995 It’s been all change at Volvo in the last year, with the Swedish car maker going from being the last vestige of Ford’s ill-fated Premier Auto Group to the first high-profile car maker to fall to the Chinese resurgence as an economic force. Volvo also has a new boss in former VW man Stefan Jacoby, who has made it clear he doesn’t see Volvo as a ‘Premier’ marque. Not that he’s downplaying what Volvo has to offer, he’d just prefer us to think of Volvo as unique and Swedish rather than in competition with the likes of Mercedes and BMW.

The AutoWeek list: Foolish cars we should never have bought, but did

2001 Pontiac Aztek Our take: The most recent black eye to the General's style department. A car equivalent of the ubiquitous camel design, put together by a committee whose members obviously didn't speak to each other. 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS Our take: We don't doubt this Japanese ute's off-road prowess, but its goggle-eye front and corrugated steel door ripples were enormous design miscues.