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

Volvo confirms big production increase for V60 Plug-in Hybrid

Volvo has been building around 150 V60 Plug-ins a week at its facility in Torslanda – alongside the regular V60, V70, S80 and XC90 – but that is now set to be upped to 282 cars a week for the rest of 2013, with plans to build at least 10,000 in 2014. The fact is that the V60 is a very appealing estate car already, and bolting a plug-in hybrid setup has turned it in to a big hit in showrooms because the barking mad official economy and emissions system bestows the V60 plug-in with emissions of just 48g/km, making it a real no-brainer in countries where governments blindly tax cars based on their official emissions. That means countries like Holland, where Volvo has received more than 3,000 orders for the V60 Plug-in, and the UK are lapping up the hybrid offering from Volvo as a way to escape big taxes and still have a swift (0-62mph in 6.1 seconds), appealing and stylish car.

Maybach, or not Maybach? That is the question.

Maybach - off to Gaydon? Actually, whether to keep Maybach on the Daimler life support system is a question that has taxed the brains of many a Mercedes exec,  almost since the Maybach brand got its revival under Mercedes and turned in to a cross between a stretched old S-Class, a Playstation and a glitterball. Because despite the efforts of Mercedes to position the Maybach above the S-Class – and in to competition with Rolls Royce and Bentley – the Maybach has somehow conspired to be less desirable than the S-Class.

Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept celebrates Aston Martin’s Centenary (video)

Looking like a modern interpretation of the legendary AM DBR1 Le Mans car from the 1950s, the CC100 is a dramatic ‘Speedster’ concept powered by Aston’s latest V12 and makes its debut – driven by Ulrich Bez – at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Race event in Germany today (19th May 2013). Aston put together the CC100 in less than six months (did no one tell them 2013 was Aston’s centenary year until last Christmas?), and roped in carbon fibre specialists Multimatic to create the body and interior from carbon fibre, and Aston Martin used the VHM platform to create the underpinnings for the CC100, and have powered it with the latest version of the V12 AM11 engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox. Chief Exterior Designer, Miles Nurnberger, said: The brief was very simple, yet enormously testing: create something that reflects the 100 years of Aston Martin heritage and signals the future of the brand.