Mini Countryman John Cooper Works edition revealed prior to Geneva show

Mini has revealed the new Mini Countryman John Cooper Works edition, which comes with all-wheel drive and an improved engine making 211 hp. It debuted on Tuesday ahead of its live reveal next week at the Geneva motor show. The Countryman JCW edition will be the first of the performance Minis to offer an automatic transmission in place of the standard six-speed.

Porsche acquires Nardo Test Track as its new playground

Porsche Nardo Test Track (map from Google Earth) The enormous Nardo Test Track near Lecce, Italy, has been acquired by Porsche as a new testing ground. Top Gear viewers will probably remember the opening episode if the last series of Top Gear (series 18) with the Lamborghini, McLaren and Noble in Italy or, more specifically, in the Lecce region of Italy which nestles in the warmth of Italy’s heel. The Lecce region also houses the Nardo Test Track which is where the boys took their supercars to hammer round the slightly bumpy outer oval seeking top speed.

Just one new Ferrari sold in Greece in 2012 – and it came to the UK!

Just one new Ferrari was sold in Greece in 2012 in the depths of Greece’s austerity, and it seems even that lone Ferrari came to the UK. None of which is particularly surprising considering the mess Greece has got in to since its tied itself to monster economies like Germany when it joined the Eurozone. There’s no doubt there are still plenty of gazillionaires in Greece, but how many of them would want to risk parading their wealth in a brand new Ferrari when Greece is in such a financial mess, more than one in four are out of work and soup kitchens are springing up as normal Greeks struggle to even feed themselves?