Dorman 911-602 Vacuum Switching Valve on 2040-parts.com

Fiat Panda (2012) first official pictures

This is Fiat’s new 2012 Panda – incredibly, only the third generation of Panda in the range’s 31-year history. Not that buyers seem to mind the glacial rate of progress: Fiat has sold 6.5m Pandas over the past three decades. The new 2012 Panda squeezes more space into the compact footprint; it’s 3650mm long, 1640mm wide and 1550mm high – enough, says Fiat, for five passengers and the biggest boot in segment.

Rolls Royce in the London 2012 closing ceremony

Three special Rolls Royce Phantom DHCs featured in last night’s Olympic closing ceremony – without the Rolls Royce logos. It’s been a good Olympic Games for BMW. They scored a big PR coup with the remote-controlled MINIs that gathered Javelins and discus in the field events, and they’ve managed to get Rolls Royce front and centre for the closing ceremony last night.

2012 Volvo S60 & XC60 R-Design get more oomph

Volvo V60 R-Design - finally, more get up and go We’re quite partial to the Volvo S60 (actually, we’re even more partial to the Volvo V60) and we like how Volvo’s R-Design pack makes a real impact without making the car look like a boy racer’s wet dream. What’s also nice – in this age of parsimony – is that even if you opt for a lowly diesel version you can still have a Volvo that looks like it gets there in a hurry, even if it doesn’t. But our preference is always for a bit more power, especially if all the visual cues make you smile in anticipation, so we have been know to bemoan the lack of any sort of power boost – even as an add-on option – on Volvo’s R-Design cars.