U.s. Old Car Thermostat. Dole. Item: 3820 on 2040-parts.com

Longest-serving AA patrol retires after 1.4 million miles

THE AA's longest-serving patrolman is retiring after 1.4 million miles and almost 50 years on the road. Jim Haggart joined the AA in Glasgow in August 1966 as a 16-year-old cadet after spotting the opportunity in a newspaper advert. The 64-year-old has helped an estimated 87,000 motorists with car trouble - between 1,500 and 2,000 a year - around the west of Scotland, rescuing animals, young children and even babies that have been accidentally locked in vehicles.

Maserati Ghibli teased ahead of Shanghai Motor Show debut

Maserati appear to be teasing the arrival of the smaller Quattroporte – the Maserati Ghibli – at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month. Maserati is on a bit of a new model rush at the moment, and it looks like the tease photo they’ve released today is for the new Maserati Ghibli. The Maserati Ghibli isn’t going to be a sporty coupe – as you might reasonably expect – but a cut-down version of the new Quattroporte, designed to take on the performance versions of Europe’s executive express cars – think BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E Class and Jaguar XF.

VW Golf GTD (2009) first pictures

By Chris Chilton First Official Pictures 27 March 2009 12:30 Volkswagen UK hasn’t even delivered its first new Golf GTi but is already showing us this: the GTD, its diesel alter ego. Powered by a 168bhp version of VW’s ubiquitous common rail 2.0-litre turbodiesel four it sprints to 62mph in just 8.1sec compared with 7.1sec for the 207bhp petrol GTi and its 136mph top speed falls 12mph short. But with 256lb ft of torque (the GTi makes do with 207lb ft) on hand, the diesel should have the upper hand in mid-range performance.