Vintage 1953 1954 Pontiac Cigarette Lighter on 2040-parts.com

McLaren F1 – The perfect safe haven in troubled times

The McLaren F1 (along with its ‘Super’ brother, the LM) is considered by many to be the ultimate road car. Light, fast and enormously desirable, the F1 has been a stunning success story. Initially conceived in the late ’80s, and coming to fruition with the launch of the first road car in 1995, just 65 road-going F1s where made between 1995 and 1998, with 5 further LMs (6 if you count the prototype, which is still owned by McLaren and promised to Lewis Hamilton if he pulls of the double World Championship by winning in 2009).

Mercedes-Benz, BMW both post record September sales

Not only are the German horsepower wars still going strong, but if this next bit of news isn't evidence of German sales wars, then we don't know what is. BMW sold 189,675 vehicles worldwide during the month of September, an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year, which also made it the best September sales month for the automaker. This comes with a small asterisk -- namely, that figure includes Mini and Rolls-Royce sales, though if we're talking just BMW-badged vehicles, the September sales totaled 158,029 (still a 7.6 percent increase over September of 2012).

Opel / Vauxhall Astra revealed

New Vauxhall / Opel Astra revealed ahead of a launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September The Astra has been with us for 30 years, and this is the sixth generation to hit the showrooms. And it looks to be the best yet (as you would hope), with a cohesive style and loads of design cues taken from Vauxhall’s Insignia. This new Astra is built on the same platform as the much heralded Vauxhall Ampera (the Electric Car that will be the salvation of GM – once the technology is sorted) and as such offers a bigger wheelbase (up by 71mm) on a 4.4 meter (14′ 4″) body, with a wider track, which should make the Astra a better drive.