Opel Kadett A 1962-1965 Full Carpet Set Dark Grey Loop on 2040-parts.com

The fall and rise of the budget car

Twenty years ago, the classic bargain brands like Lada seemed to be going the same way as the Soviet empire that spawned them. Woefully dated and badly made, only a weirdo would have bought a new Lada rather than a second-hand model from Ford, Vauxhall or VW. However, one of the big trends in the car industry today is the re-emergence of bargain cars.

Umea Olme Spyder project

While Swedish automaker Saab was going through tumultuous times and Geely was in the process of buying Volvo from Ford, first year MA students in Transportation Design at Sweden's Umea Institute of Design were busy creating a one-off roadster for an independent car maker: the Olme Spyder. Created in collaboration with Ove Bengtsson, an engineer with a personal passion for building his own vehicles, the students were asked to design their own interpretation of a progressive and innovative roadster, developing the concept from a sketch into a full-scale model. Based on an Opel Agila donor car, the concept's 650kg steel monocoque chassis was created by Bengtsson himself to accommodate a mid-mounted engine.

2013 Range Rover to start at £100k – first deliveries October 2012

Probably not the 2013 Range Rover The 2013 Range Rover – which we’d expected at Geneva 2012 – will cost from £100,000 with first UK deliveries in October. We’re still a bit surprised that the new Range Rover didn’t debut at the Geneva Motor Show this week. After all, it’s ready to show and Land Rover are already taking orders.