Mazda Mpv 2003 Left Clearance Lamp [0211100] on 2040-parts.com

Let-off for 29-point takeaway driver

A TAKEAWAY driver found using an unsafe car has been given 18 penalty points in one hit, but is still allowed to get behind the wheel. Ala Udin pleaded guilty to a string of motoring offences when he appeared before magistrates in Aberystwyth, Mid Wales. The 44-year-old father turned up to court with 11 points already on his licence and knowing that getting just one more would tip him over the ban threshold.

Kia Urban Compact SUV Concept heading for Geneva Motor Show

Kia is teasing what looks to be an Urban compact SUV come crossover ahead of a reveal at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The market for funky, rufty-tufty urban crossovers started with the ugly bug (but appealing) Nissan Juke and continues apace with car makers rushing to fill a desire by car buyers for something butch and small to blat round urban landscapers. Now it looks like Kia re planning to get in on the act with a new urban runaround of their own, with the reveal of a handful of tease photos of a new concept they will be revealing at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in March.

Mini John Cooper Works WRC: the roll cage in detail

Mini claims it’s created the safest WRC car ever – with a little help from Prodrive.  And to prove the point, they’ve opened up the Mini Countryman WRC’s innards and spilled some of the secrets of its rollcage. The Countryman racer is stripped and fitted with a new type of rollcage designed by Prodrive. Its beams curve outwards and the Banbury engineers say it has been designed to withstand impacts much better than the straight crossbeams used in most WRC cars.