Competition Engineering 3452 Parachute Cable & Handle on 2040-parts.com

Ecclestone wants to bring the noise

FORMULA ONE supremo Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to address growing concerns surrounding the sport's lack of an appealing noise. Following Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ron Walker, chairman of the organising company that stages the race, complained to close friend Ecclestone about the lack of sound. The piercing scream of the old V8 engine has gone, and in its place we now have a huskier tone, complete with whistles and whirrs from the 1.6-litre V6 turbo as F1 tries to become greener.

Mini at the London motor show 2008

By Guy Bird and CAR reader reporter Carcare Motor Shows 23 July 2008 22:14 Mini went ‘all intellectual’ on us with a university theme to its London stand on account of its Oxford connections. It also served up some quality crumpet (more of which later)… So what’s new on Mini’s London motor show stand?The ultimate Mini – the John Cooper Works version – went on sale on press day of the London motor show, offering 208bhp, 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds, a 148 mph top speed and a cool body kit. Click here for CAR's first drive of the JCW hot hatch.The £20,995 JCW hatch is the first of many planned JCW-badged Minis, with a Convertible version tipped for an unveil at the Detroit show in January 2009 and a Clubman JCW to follow in the same year with a similar price premium over existing models of about £1500.

Bugatti Grand Sport Venet edition (2012): a 253mph art car

This is the latest one-off Bugatti Veyron supercar: the Bernar Venet editon. Partly inspired by the 1970s BMW art cars of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, French artist Bernar Venet's creation pays tribute to the eggheads responsible for the Veyron's conception, by covering the front panels in mathematical equations relating to the output of the car's enormous engine. It's certainly different to the sort of motoring artist's impressions we usually bring you on CAR Online...