New 2011-13 Buick Regal Sedan Custom Fit Gray Stormweave Outdoor Car Cover on 2040-parts.com

Electric cars amped up with £500 million boost

THE GOVERNMENT is to extend the £5,000 grant scheme open to anyone who buys a car with plug-in electric power. It is part of a £500 million move to encourage car owners – and city authorities – to take up the electric car baton and run with it. The initiative will give cities a chance to win government funding to further the sales of electric cars in their areas, for example by allowing them to use bus lanes or park for free.

AXE WOES

AN ORDINARY car journey almost turned into a horror film on a highway north of the US city of Boston when an axe smashed through the windscreen of a car. Massachusetts State Police say the axe bounced out of a dump truck. A photo was released showing the axe with a corner of its blade stuck in the passenger side of the car's dashboard.

Driven: BMW 335i Cabriolet

The 3 series has come a long way. While the original 1975 E21 was initially only available as a two-door sedan, it was soon transformed into a cabriolet thanks to an aftermarket conversion kit by Baur. In 1982, the E30 was a two or four-door sedan until several years later, when BMW offered the "Touring" wagon and the full factory-produced cabriolet.