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

Porsche Panamera hits the heights in Shanghai

A Porsche Panamera on its way to the 94th floor of the World Financial Centre in Shanghai [ad#ad-1] The stories of car makers doing daft things with cars to garner a bit of publicity have been rarer of late. Which, considering the sombre mood of car makers and the car buying public in recent months, is no real surprise. Even Motor Shows have been relatively sombre affairs (the Detroit Motor Show was particularly muted in 2009), but China is still booming, and the Shanghai Motor Show has been pretty much an old fashioned, glitzy affair.

Mini: the 2011 facelift news and pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 28 June 2010 10:40 Mini has facelifted its range of hatchbacks, Clubman estates and Convertible soft-tops for the 2011 model year. There's the subtlest of design upgrades – mainly to the lights, front and rear – plus a family of new diesel engines. The new 2011 Mini goes on sale in August 2010.

Bugatti rolls out another ‘Legends’ Special – the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Black Bess

It’s the Bugatti Veyron Black Bess No, Bugatti hasn’t named their latest Legends limited edition car – the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Black Bess – after Dick Turpin’s horse (well, not directly anyway), but after the Bugatti Type 18 – dubbed Black Bess – which was the Bugatti Veyron of its day. Only seven Type 18s were built – between 1912 and 1914 – and just three remain, with the one dubbed Black Bess (which did get its name from Dick Turpin’s horse) on display in the Louman Museum in The Hague and complete with its 5.0 litre four-cylinder engine good for 100bhp and a top speed of 100mph. The new Black Bess Bugatti is a Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse with 1184 ‘black’ horses, a 0-62mph of 2.6 seconds and a top speed of 233mph and comes with a carbon fibre body painted in black with gold highlights (and looking like a 1970s JPS F1 livery).