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

Win the first new Jaguar XJ

Jaguar are hoping to raise £1 million for the NSPCC in a ‘Win a new XJ’ competition But the work of actually getting the XJ in to customers’ hands in now the focus, and although we did an update on the new XJ’s progress recently there is nothing much more to report until cars hit the road in January. But if you want to have the privilege of owning the very first new XJ off the production line – a 3.0 litre diesel Portfolio worth £62k – you can enter a competition Jaguar are running to give away that very first car. Jaguar are hoping that sales of tickets for the competition – which cost £125 each – will raise £1 million for the NSPCC’s ‘Child’s Voice’ appeal, which is aiming to raise £50 million in total to fund its helplines.

The Hidden Work of Design Consultancies

Most major car companies carry out most of their design work themselves, with dedicated design departments increasingly capable of handling every aspect of the design process. But few car companies do not use the services of external car design consultancies for some smaller projects, and many smaller car companies use such consultancies to supplement their more limited in-house design facilities on larger design projects. Throughout the world there are numerous companies offering these design services to car companies.

Volvo's autonomous car is boring enough to work

Volvo is a bit of an enigma. The Chinese-owned Swedish automaker releases a stunning concept from time to time, and we're often pleasantly surprised by the Volvos that enter out test fleet, but it hasn't done much to generate sales numbers -- or buzz -- in the North American market. Maybe that's because Volvo is too busy looking down the road to focus on selling cars now.