Luk Lmc125 Clutch Master Cylinder on 2040-parts.com

BMW M135i (2012) first official pictures

This is the new BMW M135i, a 316bhp hot hatch and the fifth model to emerge from BMW's new M Performance Automobiles tuning arm. We've already seen the 5-series (in saloon and Touring guises) and the X5 and X6 with triple-turbo diesel engines from this new sub-division of BMW's infamous M Division, but the M135i the first petrol offering. The M135i was previewed by a concept car at the 2012 Geneva motor show earlier this year, and the production version is little different.

Ford Cortina: 50 years ago today…

Ford are celebrating 50 years since the first Ford Cortina was launched and changed the car landscape forever. The Ford Cortina went on to sell an impressive 4.3 million during its twenty year life, eventually turning in to the Ford Sierra and then in to the Ford family car of today – the 2013 Ford Mondeo (which, interestingly, can be had with the 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine – smaller even than the 1200cc of that first Cortina). That first Cortina was the start of Ford’s dominance of the UK car market, leading to an unbroken run of 35 years as the best selling car brand with most of the Cortinas, almost 3 million of them, built at Dagenham – in the days Ford actually built cars here.

Concept Car of the Week: Ford 021C (1999)

As Australian-born designer Marc Newson this week joined Apple, we can only wish that he brings with him the same smart-yet-playful approach as he did with his radical Ford 021C concept. Presented at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, the project began when Marc Newson was commissioned by Ford global design director, J Mays, to create an innovative interior. Their mutual passion for design and their enthusiasm led to a much larger project and Newson eventually delivered a complete working prototype.