Continintal Quarter Midget Engine on 2040-parts.com

Vauxhall Astra GTC gets new 1.6 litre ‘Whisper’ diesel – price from £22,260

The Vauxhall Astra GTC gets the new 1.6 litre CDTi Just like all major motor manufacturers, Vauxhall are busy improving their engine range with new, more efficient and more powerful lumps. One of Vauxhall’s major engine projects has been to get the old 1.7 litre CDTi out of its cars and replace it with their new ‘Whisper’ 1.6 litre CDTi. The first Vauxhall to get the new 1.6 CDTi was the Zafira Tourer in early 2013, and the latest is the Astra GTC.

Infiniti to build new compact hatch at Sunderland from 2015

Infiniti will build its new posh family hatchback at Nissan's Sunderland factory from 2015. The landmark contract will create 1000 new jobs in the UK, 280 of which will be in the Sunderland plant itself. It's the latest thumbs up for the facility, which currently stamps out around 2000 new Nissans every day.

Audi prepares a topless R8 GT

With production of the high-performance R8 GT getting under way, Audi is preparing a convertible version of the car. The German automaker released sketches of the R8 GT Spyder on Monday. A full debut is likely at the Frankfurt motor show in September.