Blog on 2040Parts

Hamilton brother aiming to be first disabled racer in BTCC

LEWIS HAMILTON's younger half-brother Nicolas is aiming to become the first disabled driver to compete in British Touring Car Championship. Nicolas Hamilton, who has cerebral palsy and has raced in the Renault Clio Cup in 2011 and 2012, announced his intention to secure a seat in the 2015 competition. "After months of deep thought in deciding what the best route for my career is, I am excited to announce my ambitions to become the first disabled athlete to compete in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 2015," the 22-year-old wrote on his personal website.

New 2015 Skoda Fabia revealed ahead of Paris Motor Show

Skoda has released pictures of its new Fabia supermini, ahead of its public debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. It’s expected to return up to 91mpg - which would make it the most economical supermini on sale in the UK - with prices starting from just over £10,000. Click on the image above to read more about the 2015 Skoda Fabia

Skoda Fabia

Skoda gave us its first indication of the new Fabia's design direction at the Geneva show earlier this year. There, its new city car's lines were upscaled to fit the VisionC coupé concept, memorable as much for its nuclear green paint job as its sharpened surfaces. As a result, the third-generation Fabia's design springs few surprises.

Frankfurt motor show 2013: CAR’s A-Z guide

By Ollie Kew Motor Shows 19 August 2014 15:00 The 65th Frankfurt motor show kicks off on 10 September 2013. The event features 1000 exhibitors and is set to attract around 1 million visitors during its fortnight in the spotlight. This is CAR Online’s handy A-Z guide to the 2013 Frankfurt show, rounding up all the important new cars expected at the event, with links to our complete coverage on every vehicle that matters.

Mercedes-Benz found guilty of price-fixing in China

Associated Press Mercedes-Benz has been found guilty of fixing prices of car parts in China – with BMW, Audi and Chrysler also facing penalties. China’s state news agency, Xinhua, reports that the German manufacturer has been found guilty of using its power to control the prices of parts. The Chinese government is cracking down on monopolies and has been accused of being too harsh on companies from abroad.

Jay Kay's LaFerrari to star at Salon Privé

CAR BUFFS will have a unique chance to get up close to some of the fastest, most exciting cars in the world today when the 2014 Salon Privé show arrives in London next month. Among the star cars at the Syon Park event will be Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay’s spearmint green LaFerrari; the only example anywhere in the world in that colour. All the cars present will be ultra-rare, ultra-exclusive hypercars with sub-three-second 0-62mph sprint times and top speeds well in excess of 200mph.

Seat announces new special trim grade

SEAT HAS announced a great-value new special edition trim level across most of its UK range. I-Tech will add special alloy wheels and equipment extras to the Mii, Ibiza, Toledo, Altea, Altea XL and the Alhambra, even including special edition floor mats, badges and key covers on some models. Customer savings versus adding the extra equipment separately reach as high as £480.

Revealed: the most expensive areas for car insurance

A study by AA Insurance has found that drivers in London are paying the most for their car insurance – with the average premium costing a whopping £922.44. And – despite a recent fall in car insurance premiums – the average cost could soon increase, with some areas already noticing insurance getting more expensive. Top 25 new cars that are cheap to insure Cheapest cars to insure for 17-18 year olds The AA found that car insurance is the most expensive in London, followed by the IG postal area (including Ilford, Barking and Chigwell), with an average premium of £912.07.

New Renault Twingo price & specs – costs from £9,495

New Renault Twingo price & specs – costs from £9,495 Following its arrival at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the all-new Renault Twingo has now gone on sale in the UK with a choice of two petrol engines and costing from £9,945. First engine choice is a 3-cylinder 0.9 litre Dynamique TCe 90 – which develops 89bhp and 100lb/ft of torque – and comes with 99g/km emissions and official economy of 66mpg. The Twingo Dynamique TCe 90 can get to 62mph in 10.8 seconds.

London 'most costly' for car cover

MOTORISTS living in London faces paying almost four times the amount that a driver in the Isle of Man would spend on their car insurance, a study has revealed. AA Insurance, which compiles an index of the typical cost of car insurance for someone who shops around, named London as the most expensive place in Britain to insure a car, followed by the postcode area of IG, which includes Ilford, Chigwell, Woodford Green, Buckhurst Hill, Loughton and Barking, with Greater Manchester in third place. The IM (Isle of Man) postcode was found to be the cheapest place to insure a car, with the average quote for someone there who shops around standing at £231.

Mazda appoints Brit Kevin Rice as new European design chief

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 18 August 2014 10:13 Mazda has appointed Kevin Rice as its new European design director to replace the retiring Peter Birtwhistle. Rice joins at a key time for Mazda, which is replacing its model range at a rate of knots. It will show the new 2 supermini at the Paris motor show in October 2014, following the 3 mid-sized hatch and 6 family car which are both less than two years old.

Motorcycle helmet integrates head-up display, GPS and rear-view camera

Silicon-Valley start-up Skully Systems will ship its 'world's smartest' motorcycle helmet from next year. It costs $1,399, and draws together a host of technology features that are already becoming familiar to car drivers and makes them available to motorcyclists for the first time. The helmet's visor features the firm's 'Synapse' see-through head-up display system that shows information like navigation data, bike speed, and a 180-degree angle feed from the rear-view camera mounted on the back of the helmet.

Who's Where: Kevin Rice becomes Mazda Europe’s design director as Peter Birtwhistle retires

Mazda Europe has a new design director. Effective 1 September, Kevin Rice will succeed Peter Birtwhistle, who retires from the post of chief designer, bringing to an end a 26-year career with Mazda. Following graduation from Coventry University's transport design course, Rice, 50, began his professional career at Opel in 1986.

The best bits of Monterey Car Week 2014: a Pebble Beach photo gallery

CAR’s Ben Oliver is just back from the races, auctions and shows of Monterey Car Week, culminating in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Here’s his completely unrepresentative photo-diary: as you’ll see, he got most excited by the oddball Concours de LeMons… The standard of restoration required to exhibit at the Concours de LeMons is a little lower than at the other Monterey Car Week events. This is the kind of thing you see parked on the street during Monterey Car Week: the Blastolene Brothers Dream Rod, with its 2000bhp, 41-litre Packard tank engine.

New Ford Mustang: First right-hand-drive Mustang built

New Ford Mustang: First right-hand-drive Mustang built The new Ford Mustang, unlike Mustangs in the past, will be sold in the UK in right-hand-drive (and in other RHD markets too), and that has now got closer with the reveal of the first RHD Mustang (above) to roll out of a Ford production plant. Ford has already taken orders for the first 130 UK spec RHD Mustangs during the UEFA Champions League final back in May, when 500 new Mustangs were offered as a high-profile way to kick off sales of the new Mustang in Europe. The Mustang is available for the UK in RHD as either a Fastback or Convertible and a choice of either a 420bhp V8 or 2.3 litre EcoBoost with 324bhp, with a standard spec that includes Ford’s SYNC 2, Park Assist, Leather and 19″ alloys.

Building the brand identity of Brazil's home-grown off-roader

Ford's South American design studio in Camaçari, Brazil, has already completed two 'One Ford' global projects, the EcoSport crossover, and the Ka compact. But the replacement for the Troller T4, a basic 4x4 solely for the Brazilian market, has presented a different challenge to the design team led by Joao Marcos Ramos. In 1994, Troller began building tough rally-raid 4x4s for local motor sport events.

Driver caught at 139mph - on an A-road

A DRIVER caught travelling at 139mph in a 60mph zone leads new data showing dozens of cases of cars being recorded at well in excess of 100mph, according to data sourced from Police Scotland. The fastest speed captured was spotted on the A96 Keith to Huntly Road, one mile east of the B9115 Junction in Aberdeenshire, by a mobile speed camera. The figures, recorded over a 15-month period, were obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

Driverless lorries to be trialled on UK roads

Convoys of driverless trucks could be trialled on UK roads as soon as next year, with plans to roll them out on quiet motorways in the near future. Road trains of up to 10 lorries could be controlled by a driver in a single lead vehicle, with the rest of the trucks connected using wifi. Google driverless cars ‘safer than humans’ Can you get insured on a driverless car?

Company cars linked to speeding

COMPANY CAR drivers are far more likely to exceed the 70mph motorway speed limit than private motorists, according to an RAC survey. As many as 88% of those behind the wheel in firms' vehicles regularly exceed the limit compared with 67% of private motorists. Also, 62% of company of company car drivers said they reached speeds of 80mph on motorways, almost double that of regular motorists (32%).

Bizarre EU road rules revealed

THE AA has unearthed a collection of bizarre European driving rules that could catch unwary drivers out this summer. Believe it or not, you're not allowed to drive a dirty car in Belarus, Romania and even parts of Russia. In Portugal it's illegal to carry bicycles on the back of a car, and for some unknown reason it's forbidden in Estonia to overtake a tram that has stopped to pick up passengers.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2014 in pictures

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is one of the world’s premier automotive events. In fact, you could call it the world's most exclusive motor show. Held on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, it's been running since 1950 and, in the words of the event's organisers, “only the most beautiful and rare cars are invited to appear".

Aston Martin US dealers could lose DB9 & Vantage – which could see many shutting up shop

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster (pictured) might not make the US The rules and regulations car makers have to conform to are both enormous and onerous, and different markets have different regulations. And it looks like new side impact regulation could scupper AML’s sales in the US. New side impact rules – due to come in to force in the US in September – means that two of Aston Martin’s big sellers – the DB9 and Vantage V8 and V12 – would have to be withdrawn from sale in the US as they won’t comply.

McLaren P1 GTR track monster revealed at Pebble Beach

The McLaren P1 GTR track monster is revealed at Pebble Beach McLaren has taken the covers of the McLaren P1 GTR at Pebble Beach (after a tease last month) to demonstrate its design and intent ahead of production in 2015, and it certainly seems to tick all the boxes. Being built just for the track – with no need to comply with road regulations – McLaren are able to produce a car that re-writes track performance, with a focus on a bit more power – 1000PS (986bhp) – and a lot more handling prowess. The P1 GTR gets an 80mm increase in its front track, new front splitter and a set of slicks on 19″ forged wheels with centrelock hubs.

McLaren P1 GTR concept (2014): the hard-core P1

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 16 August 2014 02:15 Can you have too much of a good thing? McLaren clearly doesn't think so - it's unveiled the new P1 GTR model at the 2014 Pebble Beach concours d'elegance. They've take a 'regular' P1 and thrown the works at it.

Tesla Model S warranty extended to 8 years for Drivetrain

Tesla Model S warranty extended to 8 years for Drivetrain The Tesla Model S – perhaps the only truly useable electric car – has taken the motoring industry by storm, and now it’s getting better still for owners as Tesla announce an extended warranty on the drivetrain of the Model S to 8 years, matching that of the battery pack. The warranty also applies retrospectively, so all Model S Teslas already in the hands of owners are covered – and the warranty can be transferred to as many new owners as needed – for a full 8 years, which is unlimited for the 85 models and 125k miles for the 60 models. It’s a strong response from Tesla after a number of long-term tests (by Consumer Reports and Edmunds in particular) produced a number on niggling problems, and standing behind their product so solidly – just as Hyundai/Kia did – may not take the niggles away but it will give comfort to prospective buyers (if not shareholders, at least in the short term).

Ferrari 250 GTO #3851 GT disappoints at $38 million

The Ferrari 250 GTO #3851 GT makes ‘just’ $38 million Last month, we reported that a Ferrari 250 GTO was due to hit the auction room at Bonhams Quail Lodge sale and was expected to hit a massive record price, with estimates ranging from $60-100 million. On that basis, the sale was a complete failure. In fact, the 250 GTO – previously owned by Fabrizio Violati – managed to reach a relatively paltry $38.1 million (£22.8 million), with the actual price (before buyers premium) ‘just’ $34.6 million (£20.7 million).

Ferrari sold for record £22 million

A RARE FERRARI has been sold at auction for a record price of £22.84 million. One of just 39 models made and regarded as one of the greatest Ferraris, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta went under the hammer at Bonhams' auction in Carmel, California. A huge crowd watching the bidding broke into applause at the confirmation of the final price, which outdid the previous record for a car sold at auction.

Beaulieu Gears Up For Bank Holiday Supercar Festival

BEAULIEU’S 2014 Supercar Showdown is gearing up for an action packed show on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August, when this popular event will be welcoming supercars into the National Motor Museum’s picturesque parkland for a day of motoring action. Now in its eighth year, two hundred high-performance supercars are booked in for the event including a Lamborghini Aventador, Alfa Romeo 8C, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Jaguar XJ220 S, McLaren 12C and a Bugatti Veyron. A number of car clubs and dealerships will also be in attendance, including the Ford UK Heritage collection, with their Ford Supervan, Porsche Club GB, Westover Group, Morgan Motor Co.

Bieber pleads guilty

POP SUPERSTAR Justin Bieber has pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving and resisting arrest seven months after he was held in Miami Beach following what police initially called a drag race. The 20-year-old pop star's plea deal with prosecutors, detailed at a court hearing, includes a 12-hour anger management course, a £30,000 charitable contribution and fines. The deal allows Bieber to avoid a driving under the influence conviction.

Wraps come off revised Touareg

VOLKSWAGEN has announced prices and specifications for its revised Touareg, ahead of the SUV hitting the showrooms in November. Priced from £43,000, two versions of VW’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine will be offered, while the inclusion of an eight-speed auto gearbox has resulted in the entry level 204 horsepower variant emitting just 173g/km CO2 – 11g/km less than before. On the outside, the new Touareg features revised bumpers and grilles, new alloy wheel designs, new colours and bi-xenon headlights as standard.