A brief history of the 'Le Mans-style' start

The famous ‘Le Mans start’ Since the race’s inaugural meeting in 1923, tradition dictated a standing start. This later became known as a ‘Le Mans start’, and involved drivers lining their cars up along the pit wall in the order they qualified in. Racers would then have to stand on the opposite side of the track, and when the French Tricolor flag dropped the drivers would have to sprint to their cars, strap themselves in and begin racing.

Send CAR's Christmas e-cards for free!

What do you send your petrolhead mates for Christmas? Easy. Ping them one of our Santa's sleighs designed by world leading car designers and commissioned exclusively for CAR Magazine.  Choose from Christmas sleighs by Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, Rolls-Royce and Vauxhall – there's something for everyone with even a drop of petrol in their veins.We've refreshed our e-card software this year, letting you send as many cards as you like via email to your friends and family across the globe.

Abt Sportsline debuts 300-hp Volkswagen Golf GTI Dark

Audi and Volkswagen Group tuner ABT Sportsline is coming to the states at last. At this week's Essen Motor Show, it revealed, among other things, its own special version of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, dubbed the GTI Dark. As in, the dark side of the force.