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Ellesmere Port's bid to build Ampera hits snags

By Rob Golding Motor Industry 09 October 2009 15:02 Prime minister Gordon Brown’s personal crusade to get Vauxhall's version of the Chevrolet Volt petrol-electric plug-in hybrid – the Ampera – built in Britain's Ellesmere Port factory in 2012 is a dream delayed, CAR can disclose today.News that the UK Astra plant is the best in Europe, that the Astra's Delta platform will underpin the Ampera, and that Volt will be on US sale from 2010 had been taken to mean that Vauxhall would be churning out the cars in the north west within three years.But the prospect of an electric car industry growing up around the run-down Merseyside manufacturing site is not imminent, CAR has learned.'No Ampera to be built in Europe before 2015'Vauxhall insiders have made it clear that the car to be known as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera in Europe will be an import from the US for at least five years. One senior planner told us: 'The US will be the sole source of Amperas until at least 2015.'Bob Lutz, GM's former product supremo who recently came out of retirement as a PR, said that the low value of the dollar made the US an ideal site for the manufacturing of export cars. And with forecast sticker prices of the range-extender electric car standing at a scary £35,000+, every price saving is vital to its marketability.The European market also needs time to get its electricity recharge infrastructure in place before it is worth making cars onshore in volume, GM high-ups point out.

Video: Classic Car TV goes to the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, rides in a classic T-Bird

Our friends at Hagerty are back with the fourth episode of Hagerty Classic Car TV. This time, host Matt Richmond takes us to California for the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at and takes a spin in a classic Ford Thunderbird. News coverage includes the Fall Auburn Auction, where some rare vehicles sold for less than expected; Texas speed limits, and the Freddie Mercury Edition Lotus Evora.

Bentley Continental V8 (2012) first official pictures

This is the new 'downsized' Bentley Continental - the new 2012 V8. Downsizing is relative, of course, but it's a significant move from Bentley as it expands the Conti range down from the lofty heights of today's 6.0 W12. The new Continental V8 coupe and GTC V8 convertible premiere the VW group's new 4.0-litre V8, codeveloped with Audi.