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

New car registrations at five-year high September 2013

New car registrations at five-year high September 2013 Despite the UK economy being in the doldrums for much of the past five years, new car registrations have recovered well ahead of the curve and still seem to be unstoppable. September saw new car registrations hit 403,136 – the highest figure for five and a half years – and the first time since 2008 new car registrations have broken the 400k barrier. We’ve covered the reasons before – pre-reg cars, dealer discounts and even PPI payouts – but car registrations are certainly continuing to give buoyancy to a recovery that’s still fragile.

BMW and Pininfarina to show Gran Lusso Coupé concept at Villa d'Este

BMW and Pininfarina have collaborated on a concept car – the Gran Lusso Coupé – for the 2013 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Previewed in these teaser images, the gloriously glamorous-sounding Gran Lusso (lusso being Italian for ‘luxury') appears to fuse BMW iconography – the front fender vent, Hofmeister kink DLO and horizontal rear lamp treatment – with a little more Latin flair with a rocker that flicks up the rear lamp and joins the shoulder line. The full-width rear lamps also promise to be suitably exotic.

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).