Porsche 356b/c Shift Knob on 2040-parts.com

Aston Martin showrooms go Hi-Tec

I’m not too sure it will help much with sales at the moment, but it has been announced that Aston Martin are to become the first company to use Microsoft’s Surface Device in UK Car showrooms. The Surface device is in essence a glitzy coffee table, with a built in PC running the new software from Microsoft. Based on the software Aston Martin currently uses on its website, the device allows the salesman to configure the car on a coffee table screen, with changes of colour and wheels showing on the screen.

Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster (2009): first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 03 July 2009 16:30 Pagani has unveiled a roadster version of its most radical road-legal Zonda ever, the Cinque. Just five Cinque Roadsters will be made, and with no roof, a 669bhp V12 engine, and a price tag broaching £1.1m (plus taxes) it's pretty special. Think again - and if Horacio Pagani wants to build 5 more gorgeous Cinques, this time without a roof so you can really hear that 7.3-litre V12 wail, then who are we to argue. There's a longer front spoiler, a flat undertray and diffuser, plus a new rear wing, all of which is enough to create the same 750kg of downforce at 186mph that Pagani claims for the coupe version.

New Mercedes B-Class F-CELL in 2014 – more hydrogen cars planned

Mercedes B-Class F-CELL in use in Southern California Mercedes-Benz are planning to launch a hydrogen powered fuel cell version of the new B Class in 2014, with a larger fuel cell car also planned. The Mercedes B Class F-Cell – an electric car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell to charge the batteries – is already available for lease in Southern California, albeit at a not exactly everyday affordable $849 a month. Admittedly that does include all the hydrogen you can use, but it’s still probably three times what a regular B-Class would cost to lease.