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Natural-gas-powered Honda Civic can stay in California carpool lane

Honda Civic GX drivers in California are smiling this week as they continue to have access to the high-occupancy-vehicle lane, even with just one person in the car. Even though one-occupant hybrid cars have lost access to the carpool lane, natural-gas-powered vehicles get to use it for another four years. Beginning on July 1, yellow-stickered partial hybrids were banned from HOV areas on the highways unless they carried the mandated number of people.

Mitsubishi Concept-RA (2008): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 14 January 2008 00:59 Mitsubishi picked an elegant way to signal its intention to sell more diesel models in the US; its Concept-RA unveiled today in Detroit is a slinky two-seater coupe that's more likely to turn heads for its sharp looks than its 2.2-litre turbodiesel. It also points to the new Eclipse, which could come to Europe next time round. The sports car is one of the best-looking concepts shown by Mitsubishi for ages, its bright red paintwork contrasted by matt black finish on certain functional body parts, including the top of the engine which actually forms part of the bonnet.

New Jaguar XJ: The Paris video

Jaguar has produced a moody video of the new XJ in Paris Lucy Jordan lamented that she’d ‘Never ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair’. But if she ever had (apart from in her imaginings) she’d have realised it is – as many romantic notions are – a bit of a ‘mare. Smelly, noisy, uncomfortable and rather bad for your car’s paintwork.