1960 1958 1959 Ford Thunderbird Dash Board Frame 041649 on 2040-parts.com

Women’s World Car of the Year 2011: Citroen DS3 & BMW 5-Series

Women's World Car of the Year (WWCOTY) 2011 - DS3 & 5 Series tie We’ll decline to question too much what the response would be if a panel of male motoring writers voted for a ‘Man’s World Car of the Year Award’. Although we’d speculate that most women would consider that every other car awards is exactly that. But just as we did in 2009, we find the 2011 Women’s World Car of the Year Award winners to be in accord with what any panel of knowledgeable car bods would vote for, with the wonderful Citroen DS3 and the exceptional BMW 5-Series tying as winners.

Ford Focus RS500 (2010) first official pictures

This is the new Ford Focus RS500, a special limited edition version of the Blue Oval’s mad Focus RS hot hatch with 15% more power. For a start there’s that extra power. Thanks to a larger air-to-air intercooler, a bigger air filter and a wider diameter exhaust downpipe (plus a new ECU to take advantage of the mechanical changes) peak power is up from 301bhp to 345lb ft at 6000rpm, while torque climbs from 325lb ft to 339lb ft. The result is a 5.6sec 0-62mph time (down three-tenths) while the top speed climbs two notches to 165mph.

UK car manufacturing to hit record high by 2015

Britain is on track to hit a new all-time car manufacturing high by the end of 2015. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders forecasts that car production is set to top 2 million a year in three years' time. That's enough to eclipse the 1.92m record set forty years ago in 1972.