Volvo Penta Trim Control/guage on 2040-parts.com

SEMA's good, the bad and the ugly

By Phil McNamara Motor Shows 31 October 2007 07:09 Dodge Charger It's Halloween today, so we thought we’d bring you some monsters from the SEMA show. Muscle cars dominate the world's biggest automotive accessories fair, and this Dodge Charger epitomises the wild style motors that pepper SEMA's 1m square feet of show floor. Created by King of Cars.com and Vertical Doors Inc, this Charger rolls on 26-inch rims which resemble a stainless steel lemon juicer.

2013 Kia Carens price & specification. Costs from £17,895.

That’s a subjective call, but the new Carens is a decent looking effort from Kia at a sensible price point with decent equipment levels and offers plenty of family lugging abilities in to the bargain. All Carens models in the UK come with 7 seats and yet is 20mm shorter than the old Carens, But thanks to an extra 50mm in the wheelbase Kia reckons it offers all the space if bigger rivals and, with a flexible configuration for the seating, means the new Carens can accommodate the needs of a mix of load and people carrying with alacrity. The new Carens comes in three trim levels – catchily named 1, 2 and 3 – with 7 seats, cornering lights  LED running lights, electric heated door mirrors, AirCon, electric windows, Cruise, Radio/CD with iPod connectivity and Bluetooth and a rear conversation mirror.

CPP buys Bowler Offroad

Bowler Nemesis - Now made - and owned - by CPP Goodness, CPP Manufacturing are busy little bees at the moment. No sooner do we learn that CPP has bought Spyker Cars (well, strictly speaking it’s CPP Global Holdings Ltd who are hoovering up with Vladimir Antonov’s money) than we discover CPP has also acquired Bowler Offroad. For the uninitiated, Bowler are the makers of bonkers offroad vehicles that can probably be best described as Land Rover Supercars.