Bbr Shift Lever Crf150r 07-08 537-bbr-1008 on 2040-parts.com

MINI First introduced

MINI has a new budget model - The MINI First With all things Eco the flavour of the month, and with budgets stretched in households everywhere, a cheap, entry-level budget MINI is a tempting prospect. You still get the iconic shape, and you still get a very good chassis – which translates in to good handling and a decent ride – but you’re not paying a fortune for the fripperies. After all, there are MINIs that will set you back £25k (the MINI JCW Cabriolet), but the new MINI First is a very tempting £10,950.

2012 European Car of the Year shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2012 European Car of the Year award has been announced today. There were 35 cars on the original list, but the first round of voting from the 59 jury members (including CAR Magazine’s editor Phil McNamara, and our European correspondent Georg Kacher) has whittled the list down to just seven. They are… • Citroen DS5• Fiat Panda• Focus Focus• Opel (Vauxhall) Ampera/Chevrolet Volt• Range Rover Evoque• Toyota Yaris• Volkswagen Up There will now be a second round of test drives, before the European Car of the Year jurors submit their scores and a winner is announced live at the Geneva motor show on 5 March 2012.

Mercedes 'Aesthetics S' sculpture (2012) previews S-class

Mercedes is previewing its next 2013 S-class flagship, but not with a concept car or series of shadowy teaser shots. No, Merc has instead opted to create a sculpture showing the profile of the next S-class. It's titled 'Aesthetics S', and together with its 'exciting projection display', it'll be shown at the 2012 Paris motor show later this month.