Cessna 1978 Pilot's Operating Handbook Model 152 on 2040-parts.com

Track and Field: Today's track day cars offer more for less

The imminent arrival of the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ have many enthusiasts thinking about the track-day-filled summer ahead. Since both of these rear-wheel-drive coupes will be available in limited numbers, we're going to explore some other options for track-day cars that could be as fun as the new sheetmetal from Japan. We'll start with the less expensive stuff and work our way up, without crossing the $50,000 threshold.

New VW Beetle gets new engines

Volkswagen has finally made the new VW Beetle available with the 2.0 litre TSI petrol and 2.0 litre turbodiesel engines. When we reported the other day that the new VW Beetle Convertible was arriving at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November we did say that VW were about to announce the arrival, finally, of the 2.0 litre TSI petrol and 2.0 litre TDI diesel for the Beetle to make it a bit more appealing. It seems VW must have been listening as they’ve now announced that you can grab a new Beetle with either the more powerful petrol or the diesel engine, which should help sales of the new Beetle.

Seat celebrates 60 years of production

SPANISH car maker Seat has this week celebrated its 60th anniversary, releasing pictures dating back to its very first model, the 1400. Six decades have now passed since the first 1400 rolled off the production line, when the brand new company was inundated with 10,000 orders following the end of petrol rationing in Spain. With so much production demand Seat was able to drop the initial price of 121,875 to a more reasonable 117,000 pesetas, or what would have been about £590 at the time.