1967 Corvette White Stripe Tire Original Non Dot on 2040-parts.com

New Lexus IS 300h, LF-LC and Lexus F-Sport all at 2013 Geneva Motor Show

We’ll get to see the new Lexus IS 300h at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show together with an Opal Blue LF-CC and extended F Sport range. Probably of most interest – because we’ve not seen it in Europe yet, is the new Lexus IS 300h, the hybrid version of the 2013 Lexus IS – revealed at Detroit last month – which Lexus hope will pick up sales from the diesel competition. Lexus will be adding the F Sport trim to the IS 300h too to show that their cars can look as dynamic as those from Audi’s S Line, Mercedes’ AMG or BMW’s M Sport which, with an expected output of around 220bhp from the electric motor and 2.5 litre engine, isn’t all that incongruous.

Mercedes GLA goes subterranean

FOR SUV owners looking to test their cars’ off-road credentials, the obvious place to put them to the test probably isn’t nearly 200 metres underground. But that’s exactly where the new Mercedes GLA found itself as it descended into Winsford Rock Salt Mine, 620 feet beneath the Cheshire countryside. The working mine, which supplies much of the UK’s gritting salt for wintry roads, played host to four standard (apart from extra driving lights) GLA models, which were lowered down into the mine nose first before being let loose in the 130-mile network of tunnels.

Concept Car of the Week: Toyota EX-1 (1969)

Back in the 60s, Toyota launched a few iconic sports cars such as the 800 and the gorgeous 2000 GT. Not happy to have created automotive perfection with the latter, the Japanese brand went on to explore even more extravagant shapes and unveiled the first of the EX concepts series in 1969. While its bold lines are truly Japanese, the EX-1 looked like the missing link between the fast silhouette of a 1967 Maserati Ghibli and the hairy-chested heft of a Dodge Challenger.