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

MINI Vision Concept shines a light on the 2014 MINI Mk 3

The MINI Vision Concept (pictured) previews the arrival of the new MINI Mk 3 in 2014 We’ve had spy shots of the 2014 MINI Mk 3 running around the Interwebs for quite some time, to such an extent that MINI revealed their own ‘spy photo’ of the new MINI earlier this month. But now we get the real deal – or at least the concept version of the real deal – in the form of the MINI Vision Concept revealed by MINI in Munich yesterday. Much of the MINI Vision is covered in a layer of concept frippery, but looking through the toys and flights of fancy, we still get to see a lot of what thye Mk 3 MINI will offer.

Grab a ‘VAT Free’ Skoda Octavia

In yet another ‘Sign of the times’ Skoda has announced that they are now offering ‘VAT Free Octavias’ until the end of the year. No, this is not a tie-up between Alistair Darling and VW, it’s just Skoda’s way of offering a headline price decrease of a bit over 13% (less expensive to Skoda than last week for the same headline, to be fair, and there is a new model due in January!). Grab a VAT free Skoda Octavia I’m pretty sure that there will be a raft of these ‘VAT Free’ offers floating around on everything from cars to washing machines, capitalising on the fact the VAT is in the headlines.

Lancia Ypsilon rolls out in Europe

Take a look at the new Lancia Ypsilon city car, which went on sale in Europe on Tuesday. This third-generation Ypsilon rides on a stretched version of Fiat's Mini platform. The Mini platform is the base for the Fiat 500 that is now rolling into U.S.