Decal-mastercraft Mediterranean Blue A Only (7502008) on 2040-parts.com

Toyota Prius T Spirit Review & Road Test (2010 / 2011)

We spend a week with the Toyota Prius There are many – us included – who thought it extremely unlikely that Toyota would ever want to send us any of their hybrid cars for review. Much less – in light of our oft stated dislike of the Prius and all the motoring piousness it represents – let us review the latest  Toyota Prius But it turns out that Toyota are a decent bunch of chaps who believe that their cars – even their hybrid cars – are capable of standing up to scrutiny, even with our well known antipathy to the whole hybrid direction. And let’s face it, so entrenched is the Prius as a ‘Planet Saver’ in the minds of many that even if we simply confirm our opinion after a week of playing it’s not really going to make much difference to Toyota.

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.

Lexus RC-F Coupe teased again

Lexus RC-F Coupe teased again We had a tease from Lexus for a new F performance model to debut at the Detroit auto show next month, but Lexus declined to say what exactly it will be. Of course, it’s the new Lexus RC-F Coupe and even though Lexus don’t say as much, they do go as far as to say that the new F model will have ‘Half the doors, twice the roar’. So, we know what to expect.