Russo-Baltique Impression

One hundred years since its conception, the Russo-Baltique brand has been resurrected for a show car at Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance. Once the maker of cars for Russia's Royal Court, the country's Revolution suspended Russo-Baltique's activities after the First World War, only restored in 2003 when work on the new Impression began. The car aims to demonstrate a high level of quality, using materials such as Zebrano, an African wood, to trim the interior.

Chris Evans’ CarFest North. Just as big as CarFest South

Chris Evans’ second petrolhead extravaganza – CarFest North at Cholmondeley Castle – has been as big a success as CarFest South. It may be a new petrolhead show on the calendar, but Chris Evans’ CarFest Shows have been a real success, not just for visitors but for the BBC’s Children in Need charity. This last weekend saw CarFest North try and follow in the footsteps of last month’s CarFest South, which it appears to have done in style, pushing the amount raised for Children in Need up to £800k from both CarFest events.

New options make Prius pricey

High-tech features and luxury options will push the redesigned Toyota Prius into new territory--namely, $30,000-plus. The 2010 Prius hybrid will offer options found on luxury cars: systems that automatically park the car in a parallel parking space and slow the vehicle when a crash is likely. But Toyota is aware of a new competitor--the 2010 Honda Insight, a hybrid that is a little smaller and expected to be less expensive than the Prius.