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Lightning at the London motor show 2008

By Guy Bird and CAR reader reporter asp Motor Shows 24 July 2008 09:03 The previous GT revealed by the Lightning Car Company two years ago was a conventional 4.8 V8 petrol sports car but then the firm decided to start again from scratch and become a pure electric car brand. The result – claimed to be Britain's first all-electric sports car – was shown at London… What’s new on Lightning’s London motor show stand?The completely redesigned 2008 GT – only the windscreens are common – is a pure electric vehicle with a claimed 700bhp equivalent of power on tap. It’s a dream machine in every sense: 100 percent electric with four in-wheel motors, slick sports car styling, 0-60mph in under four seconds, a 180-mile range and claimed 10-minute recharge.

‘Big Red London Bus’ returns

The 21st Century 'Routemaster' Double-Decker Bus will be in service by 2012 I doubt we can speak for everyone who visits London. But from our perspective London is a poorer place now the iconic Routemaster red buses are relegated to the odd heritage route and pay-to-see tourist trip (and we’d have to say the same about Mercedes Taxis – nicer places to be but they don’t look right). What’s needed is a 21st century version of the Routemaster (and the Black Cab – but that’s another story).

GM gets behind Vauxhall & Opel by dropping Chevrolet in Europe

Cars like the Chevrolet Trax (pictured) will disappear from the UK in 2015 GM has seemed to be fighting a battle with itself in the UK and Europe by marketing a broadly similar range of cars under the Vauxhall and Opel badges in the UK and Opel and Chevrolet in Europe. But unlike the VW Group, which manages to offer very similar cars from VW, SEAT and Skoda and create a different customer base, GM seems to have failed to make the marketplace work with Opel and Vauxhall competing with Chevrolet. So Chevrolet are on their way out in Europe.