Merc Cruiser 7.4l Complete Engine on 2040-parts.com

UK 2011 car sales analysis: winners and losers

The UK car market fell 4.4% in 2011 to its worst year for at least a decade. Brits bought 1,941,253 vehicles last year as private motorists put off that new car purchase and stuck with their existing wheels or went secondhand. Retail sales took the brunt of the fall, with a 14% collapse on 2010's figures.

Porsche purchases Andial performance brand

Porsche announced on Thursday that it has purchased the legendary Andial name that has become a staple in the realm of Porsche racing and performance tuning. In 1975, the late Arnold Wagner (AN), Dieter Inzenhofer (DI), and former Porsche Motorsport North America president and current consultant Alwin Springer (AL) came together to build Andial (an anagram of the principals names), a successful and respected independent authority on Porsche-performance tuning. Since the last active owner, Inzenhofer, is retiring later this month, timing was ripe for Porsche to jump in and offer to carry the Andial torch.

Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Spyder Performante

Lamborghini today showed the world their new at the LA show - now take a deep breath - Gallardo LP570-4 Spyder Performante. And you thought Japanese brands loved a multi-faceted verbose car name. In simple terms the Performante is the Spyder version of the Superleggara. It's been on the same religiously slim-fast diet, adopting lots of carbonfibre (inside and out), swapping the standard car's leather for lightweight Alcantara, and receiving lightweight wheels.