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

50 Years of the BMW 'Neue Klasse'

In a year that sees the celebration of the ever-seductive Jaguar E-Type and the characterful Renault 4, it would be easy to overlook other cars also reaching their half-century, especially a mundane three-box saloon. However, the BMW 1500 isn't any less significant. When launched at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show, intrigued and inquisitive visitors were forced to wait 30 minutes just to catch a glimpse of the car.

Bugatti reveals footage of record-setting open-top run

In case there was any doubt, Bugatti posted footage on Monday of its $2.6 million Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse hitting a record-setting 254.04 mph at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track. Chinese racing driver Anthony Liu was behind the wheel. If you'll remember, when Bugatti had its hardtop top-speed record pulled, it quickly set this test in motion to quiet any detractors.

Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon Edition – costs £200,000

The Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon Edition in Carbon White It’s only a month since the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish (and Vanquish Volante) were revealed with a series of updates that manage to turn the Vanquish in to a much more appealing car. That new appeal is mainly down to AML finally ditching their ancient six-speed auto ‘box and replacing it with a new 8-Speed ZF ‘box – which cleverly sits inside the old housing – increasing performance, drivability and economy in one fell swoop. The Vanquish now gets to 62mph in a very respectable 3.8 seconds and can top 200mph, despite which official economy improves to 31mpg (more like 16mpg in the real world).