European Car of the Year shortlist announced

THE SEVEN CARS that will battle it out to become European Car of the Year (ECOTY) 2014 have been announced. Decided on by a jury of 53 motoring journalists from across Europe, the shortlists is made up of the BMW i3, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda 3, Mercedes S-Class, Peugeot 308, Skoda Octavia and Tesla Model S. This is the first time the ECOTY shortlist of contenders has included two electric vehicles with the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S.

Carrera GT: Even Jay Leno can't make it funny

When I heard that one of those celebrity-based half-hour TV shows dug up the video of comedian Jay Leno spinning a Porsche Carrera GT at Talladega Superspeedway at 182 mph, I knew it would awaken some memories that resulted in emails like, “Say, weren't you there? Pretty ironic given the Paul Walker deal, huh?” Yes, huh. Man, what a strange day that was.

Renault Clio & Megane World Series Special Edition launched

Renault has released World Series Limited Editions of the Clio and Megane The World Series Limited Editions are based on the Dynamique trim level, but throw in a chunk of extra kit to make these World Series Limited Editions. The Renault Clio World Series gets side skirts, an extended front spoiler, new back bumper and the required ‘WSR’ badges. You get an engine choice – the 1.2 litre 75, the nTCe 100 or the dCI oil-burner.