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

MINI Rocketman returns for London 2012

The MINI Rocketman Concept – first seen at Geneva 2012 – has been titivated and rolled out to promote BMW’s London 2012 sponsorship. We all thought, when BMW rolled out the MINI Rocketman Concept at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011, that this was the future for a second, smaller take on the modern MINI. But BMW seemed to go cold on the idea of building a modern MINI with dimensions much closer to the original Issigonis Mini so we thought the plans had gone out of the window.

Cop saves life of choking driver

A US POLICE officer saved a motorist in Kalamazoo, Michigan, who was choking after stopping her for driving through a red light. Officer Jason Gates realised the woman could not breathe when he approached her vehicle, so he hit her on the back to try to clear her airway. When that did not work, he performed the Heimlich manoeuvre which dislodged a piece of sausage and bread from her throat.

Monterey in a Mulsanne – a Bentley mission to Pebble Beach

After a ten-and-a-half-hour flight from London, the idea of steering headlong – and solo – into the early Los Angeles rush-hour traffic in a five-and-a-half-metre-long, left-hand drive Bentley Mulsanne (worth some £230,000 with extras) and on the other side of the road to which I am familiar, might seem a little daunting. But as soon as I sink into the super saloon’s big leather seats, Bluetooth my iPhone to stream some music via the Naim premium audio, turn up the air-conditioning and press the accelerator gently, all becomes well. LAX Airport may be my starting point but the final destination is the Monterey Peninsula towards San Francisco, some 400 miles northward, for the world-famous annual classic car show Pebble Beach.