Nissan Bluebird Sylphy 2001 Radiator Grille [0110400] on 2040-parts.com

Cycle or walk, charity urges parents

PARENTS could save a collective £2 billion a year if they ditched the school run and accompanied children to lessons on foot or by bicycle, says a transport charity. On average, each set of parents could reduce costs by £642 a year if they did not use their car to ferry their offspring to and from school, said Sustrans. Around 11 million journeys a day are made between home and school, while, on average, primary school children live 1.8 miles from school, which is a 25-minute brisk walk, or 15-minute bike ride.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 and DB9 Carbon for 2014 Geneva Motor Show

Aston Martin will show off special new versions of the V8 Vantage and the DB9 at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show in March. The updates to the two model ranges are very different in character, however. The V8 Vantage N430 is a race-inspired special with more power and less weight – not to mention a somewhat shouty paint job – while the DB9 Carbon Black and Carbon White models are intended to bring a little extra luxury and style to the British marque’s Grand Touring model.

2011 BMW 5-series: Bavaria's midsize sedan takes cues from bigger 7-series brother

BMW's appetite for controversial design may have waned since the heights of former design boss Chris Bangle's oft-derided flame surfacing stratagem. But it shows no sign of fading completely, as we see in the first official photographs of the new sixth-generation 5-series, which goes on sale in North America by mid-2010. Codenamed F10, BMW's midsize sedan is restyled and reengineered in a bid to keep it ahead of key rivals such as the recently renewed Mercedes-Benz E-class and the Audi A6.