Tucano Urbano Vespa Gts Termoscud Leg Cover - R154 on 2040-parts.com

'Defective tyre' prosecutions top 10,000

MORE THAN 170 motorists were convicted every week in 2012 for driving on defective or even dangerous tyres. The figures, obtained by tyre safety charity TyreSafe as part of its efforts to improve awareness during Tyre Safety Month, show that 10,228 drivers were taken to court over their tyres. As rain becomes a more regular fixture for most motorists up and down the country, following an unusually dry summer, tyre tread depth and pressure become even more important.

Ford Galaxy MPV spied stateside

Autoweek reader and frequent spy-shot contributor Spencer Abbott sends these photos of what appears to be a Ford Galaxy MPV -- or minivan, as we typically call the vehicles stateside -- testing in metropolitan Detroit. The Galaxy received a facelift in 2010, and that appears to be what we're seeing in these photos. Your guess is as good as ours as to why the vehicle was out and about near Ford's Dearborn, Mich., headquarters.

Monterey in a Mulsanne – a Bentley mission to Pebble Beach

After a ten-and-a-half-hour flight from London, the idea of steering headlong – and solo – into the early Los Angeles rush-hour traffic in a five-and-a-half-metre-long, left-hand drive Bentley Mulsanne (worth some £230,000 with extras) and on the other side of the road to which I am familiar, might seem a little daunting. But as soon as I sink into the super saloon’s big leather seats, Bluetooth my iPhone to stream some music via the Naim premium audio, turn up the air-conditioning and press the accelerator gently, all becomes well. LAX Airport may be my starting point but the final destination is the Monterey Peninsula towards San Francisco, some 400 miles northward, for the world-famous annual classic car show Pebble Beach.