Yamaha Yz 250 Clutch Cable, 1996 on 2040-parts.com

Bentley Celebrates Strong Finish At Mille Miglia

YOU can be forgiven for thinking Jaguar stole the Mille Miglia spotlight this year, what with its roster of celebrities driving a brace of desirable racers, but Bentley was the other British brand tearing across the Italian countryside. The Crewe-based luxury car maker fielded a handful of iconic pre-war models and, after the four-day, 1,700km marathon, the firm secured its best position to date with one of its iconic 4 ½ Litre supercharged Bentley Blowers. Rolf Frech, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Engineering and Jerome D’Ambrosio, finished in 73rd position out of the 438 cars that took part.

Essex is home to a Brand New E-Type Jaguar

Ray Parrott, an Essex haulier and E-Type fanatic, has created the last ever authentic E-Type Jaguar from a collection of spare parts that has been gathering dust in a garage since 1974, when the last E-Type rolled off the production line at Browns Lane. Ray was contacted by Mike Wilkinson of M & C Wilkinson Spares, a classic Jag parts specialist in Yorkshire, who had dealt with Ray on many occasions for parts for the E-Types he already owned, to tell him that he had been able to secure this huge range of parts, all brand new and unused, from the guy who had bought them from Jaguar in the ’70s And so was hatched a plan. The New E-Type Jaguar belonging to Ray Parrot Between them they realised that there were at least 95% of the parts needed to build an E-Type from scratch, including the bodyshell, brand new V12 engine, gearbox and rear axle and even an unopened canvas top for the Roadster.

Leno lines up electric Ford Focus for celebs to turn fast laps

Car collector Jay Leno's new prime-time TV show launches a new segment on Friday night, challenging visiting celebrities to set a fast lap time on a track outside the entertainer's studio. The car that Leno hands to his guests is an electric-powered Ford Focus--a harbinger of a battery-powered Focus that Ford plans to put on sale in 2011. Leno's electric Focus uses the more-modern European Focus as its base, not the well-aged U.S.