Hennessey Venom GT2 to bring 1,500 hp

Hennessey The Hennessey Venom GT2 will debut in late 2013 from Texas tuner Hennessey Performance Engineering. The already-bonkers Corvette-powered Lotus will now house a twin-turbocharged 7.0-liter V8 making an unthinkable 1,500 hp. Hennessey didn't reveal the weight but says that the Venom GT2 has more than one horse per 2.2 pounds (1 hp/kg).

Vauxhall Astra tweaked & Astra GTC BiTurbo diesel

The Vauxhall Astra Hatch and Sports Tourer (Estate) have been given a bit of a facelift and the Astra GTC BiTurbo diesel has arrived. It’s probably a bit of a stretch to call what Vauxhall has done to the Astra Hatch and Astra Sport Tourer a facelift, but it’s enough of a tweak for those who’ve just bought a new Astra to be less than thrilled. The main changes to the hatch and estate are a new grill, new indicators and new fog lights; a minor rhinoplasty.

Mini Beachcomber Concept at Detroit motor show 2010

This funky beach-biased concept car has just appeared at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January. Called the Mini Beachcomber Concept, this flight-of-fancy Moke-inspired show car gives us our first glimpse of how Mini's production-spec 4x4 crossover will look at launch - we'll see the real car at the Geneva motor show in March 2010 ahead of an autumn UK launch. This four-seater, four-wheel-drive machine has been designed without doors or a conventional roof, so that its occupants are not cut off from the outside world.