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McLaren MP4-12C: The build begins +video

First McLaren MP4-12C being built You could be forgiven for thinking that McLaren had already started building their Ferrari 458 challenging car – the McLaren MP4-12C. After all, it’s been turning up all over the place for at least a year, and we even had a good view of the Volcano Orange MP4-12C from Goodwood as it passed us en-route to strut its stuff up the Goodwood Hillclimb last year. But the cars we’ve seen so far – even the Volcano Orange MP4-12C from Goodwood – were prototypes; McLaren’s running test beds for tweaking and refining the MP4-12C before the first cars reach customers this year.

Women 'prefer men in eco-friendly cars'

GIRLS go for men with "green" cars rather than those with gas-guzzlers, according to a survey. More than half of women reckon drivers of expensive sports cars are arrogant, the poll from Motors.co.uk found. But many women, and men too, found drivers of eco-friendly cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius to be conscientious, intelligent and safe motorists.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.