Volvo S60 01-09 Hood Opener Stay Shock Strut Damper Right & Left Set on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes to build CLS Shooting Brake

Mercedes has announced that the CLS Shooting Brake, which was shown as a concept at the Beijing motor show in April 2010, will go into production in 2012.  Well, if you want a car that will turn heads around town – and find the E-class estate has a little too much room – then this is the car for you. Mercedes flatly refuses to admit that the CLS Shooting Brake is an estate, preferring to call it a ‘sporty four-door coupe with a sloping tail end based on the CLS’. In essence, this car is a hatchback version of the CLS, and despite a slightly raised roof, it still sits a full 10cm lower than its E-class sibling.

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe (2008): first official pictures

By Mark Nichol First Official Pictures 17 February 2008 00:01 BMW continues to stretch the Rolls-Royce range every which way (have they confused it with the 3-series famiy?) and today it unveils the new  Phantom Coupe. Think of it as a two-door gentleman’s express built for the mega-rich to waft unscathed through the credit crunch. You won't confuse its lineage, that's for sure.