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

Happiness is a Jaguar XJ6 Coupé, says Michael J. Scott

My first Jaguar experience was with the purchase of an XJ6 Coupe which I bought because I thought it was very elegant.  The 4.2 straight six never failed to impress in the way the car just disappeared over the horizon in plush silence (apart from some wind noise from the door seals) and I loved the drama of opening two petrol caps and pumping in fuel from both sides of the car. After long fast drives to southern Germany I always arrived as fresh as when I started out. The car attracted admiring interest from everyone including little old ladies!

2013 Citroen C3 Facelift

A new Citroen C3 will debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with the usual facelift of new bumpers and lights and revised engine range. Astonishingly – for the Citroen C3 is a bit bland – it’s much the same car under the skin as the brilliant DS3, but the C3 is the DS3 with the sparkle missing. And it looks like the sparkle of the DS3 will still be missing from the C3 as it gets a mid-life facelift, with nothing much going on except the usual facelift fodder of new bumpers and lights, a tweak or two to the trim and a bit of fiddling with the engine range.

New Mercedes SL 400 replaces SL 350

The new Mercedes SL 400 (pictured) replaces the old SL 350 It’s a little over two years since the latest Mercedes SL arrived, and Mercedes has now decided to add a little zest to sales by dropping the old SL 350 and replacing it with a new Mercedes SL 400. The new SL 400 gets its power from the new E400 which means a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6 with 328bhp and 354 lb/ft of torque – 26bhp and 81 lb/ft more than the old SL 350 – enough to let the SL 400 scoot to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds – 0.7s better than the 350 -= and on to a limited top speed of 155 mph. The new SL 400 has to make do with Mercedes tried and tested 7-speed auto – despite a new 9-speed now being available in Mercedes’ arsenal – which gives the SL 400 official economy of 38.6 mpg and emissions of 172g/km – not that you’ll come close in the real world.