Vintage Studebaker Hand Brake Handle on 2040-parts.com

Richard Hammond’s Nova heads to Beaulieu

Ever thought car museums were lacking abused Vauxhall Novas? No, us neither – but Richard Hammond’s Nova SRi from Top Gear’s recent retro hot hatch challenge is heading to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. It joins the likes of the Hovervan from the last series, as well as the indestructible Toyota Hilux in the World of Top Gear.

Volvo confirms big production increase for V60 Plug-in Hybrid

Volvo has been building around 150 V60 Plug-ins a week at its facility in Torslanda – alongside the regular V60, V70, S80 and XC90 – but that is now set to be upped to 282 cars a week for the rest of 2013, with plans to build at least 10,000 in 2014. The fact is that the V60 is a very appealing estate car already, and bolting a plug-in hybrid setup has turned it in to a big hit in showrooms because the barking mad official economy and emissions system bestows the V60 plug-in with emissions of just 48g/km, making it a real no-brainer in countries where governments blindly tax cars based on their official emissions. That means countries like Holland, where Volvo has received more than 3,000 orders for the V60 Plug-in, and the UK are lapping up the hybrid offering from Volvo as a way to escape big taxes and still have a swift (0-62mph in 6.1 seconds), appealing and stylish car.

One Lap of the Web: California, Corvette

-- Los Angeles is a city so tied to dysfunctional traffic that locals give it nicknames. Carmageddon, Rampture, Carmageddon II -- construction closure names become coping mechanisms. Hence Jamzilla, the name given to the closure of the 405 Freeway this long President's Day weekend, serving to impede the wanton roaming of Angelenos just when they finally have time to do so.