People with angle grinders and ambition had been producing open-top Minis for years, but it wasn’t until June 1993 that the first official Mini Convertible rolled off the Longbridge production line.

• Mini happy returns: 20 years of the new MINI

The Rover Mini Cabriolet was a mainstream version of the ultra-rare Mini Lamm Cabriolet conversion, which was launched in 1991. The fast sell-out of the 75 models convinced Rover Group the idea had a future, and despite costing almost double what a regular tin-top Mini did at launch, the Mini Cabriolet nevertheless proved popular.

This inspired BMW to develop an open-top version of the reborn Mini. The new Mini Convertible launched in 2004 and it too has sold well – and how. More than 89,000 have found homes in the UK alone.

To mark the quarter-century of its open-top car, Mini UK is now launching a 25^th Anniversary Edition of the Mini Convertible, based on the Cooper S and limited to just 300 cars – each costing £32,995.

Coincidentally, that’s around double what a base Mini One costs.

Finished exclusively in a unique combination of Starlight Blue metallic with Satellite Grey ‘lounge leather’ interior, Mini Yours Union Jack woven fabric roof, white bonnet stripes and two-tone 18-inch Mini Yours ‘Vanity Spoke’ alloys.

Also standard is the Mini Chili Pack, Navigation Plus pack and a beefy Harman Kardon sound system. Oh, and a commemorative plaque for the dash.

As with all factory-fresh Mini Hatch and Convertible models, the 25^th Anniversary Edition also benefits from 2018 model-year upgrades, including front and rear LED lights, 6.5-inch colour infotainment screen, multi-function steering wheel and the latest ‘2D’ Mini brand logo (replacing the old ‘3D’ motif).

Oh, and the ‘Union Flag’ rear lights that are the quickest way to spot a 2018 Mini. There’s no missing them…

If you’re one of the many Marvel fans flocking to the cinema for the release of the new Avengers: Infinity War movie, you might find yourself wondering what car Captain America might drive. Although if you’re a real comic book aficionado, you’ll already know that he rides a vintage Harley Davidson motorbike.

However, when it comes to Chris Evans, the actor who plays Captain America and his Steve Rogers alter ego, the answer is much clearer. It’s a rather impressive 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, thoroughly customised and upgraded by Wisconsin-based SpeedKore, a company that specialises in taking muscle cars to the next level.

Lurking beneath the bonnet of the ‘67 Camaro is a modern LS3 Chevrolet crate engine. Off the shelf the 6.2-litre (376-cubic inch) V8 produces 430 hp and 425 lb-ft of torque, making it more than sufficient to power a 1960’s classic. SpeedKore has also upgraded various engine parts, along with mating it to a Chevrolet Performance four-speed automatic gearbox with push-button shifting.

All that power would be wasted without bringing the chassis up to date, and nothing has been overlooked for Evans’ Camaro. Using a Detroit Speed performance suspension kit, this superhero has been lowered closer to the ground, with stopping power also increased by the addition of huge Baer 6S ‘Extreme’ brakes. Wheels supplied by HRE measuring 18-inches in diameter at the front, and a huge 20-inches at the rear, complete the chassis makeover.

Skilled in custom bodywork design and fabrication, SpeedKore have given the Camaro numerous exterior modifications to mark it out as something special. The transformation also continues inside, where Recaro bucket seats are wrapped in leather described as ‘Bomber Brown’ in colour. Quite apt given Captain America’s World War Two backstory. Keeping things cool is a vintage air conditioning system, whilst a Kenwood satellite navigation unit brings the technology into the 21st century.

This is not the first time SpeedKore have created a muscle car for a Marvel movie hero. Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. commissioned the firm to produce a stunning Ford Mustang Boss 302, which picked up a ‘Best of Show’ design award at the prestigious SEMA show in 2017

Superhero Showdown:
Who did it better? Chris Evans’ 1967 Chevrolet Camaro or Robert Downey Jr’s 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302? Both Built by @Speedkore01 #SpeedKore | #Mustang | #Ford | #FordPerformance | #Camaro | #Chevrolet | #CarbonFiber | @hrewheels | @PPGPaints | @chevy pic.twitter.com/CRY5QH5Ic5

— SpeedKore (@SpeedKore01) April 27, 2018

SpeedKore has also produced cars featured in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, including a 1,650hp twin-turbocharged 1970 Dodge Charger. Other highlights include a version of the already crazy Dodge Challenger Demon clothed in carbon fibre, and a lightweight Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R.

Given the number of actors involved in Avengers: Infinity War, we have our fingers crossed that SpeedKore will get even more commissions for bespoke American muscle cars.

A record 5.65 million tickets were issued to drivers parking on private land in the last financial year – a staggering increase of almost one million penalties over 2016/17 figures (which themselves were a record).

The rapid increase in parking penalties has been highlighted by RAC Foundation analysis – and as charges can be as much as £100, the association calculates British motorists could be spending more than half a billion pounds a year simply on private parking fines.

It’s a stark contrast to just a decade ago, where less than half a million parking tickets were issued. In 2006/07, a mere 272,000 tickets were handed out.

The ticket tally equates to 15,486 penalties being issued every single day. The RAC Foundation has calculated its data from the purchase of driver data from the DVLA; by far the biggest purchaser was ParkingEye Ltd, which bought 1,768,233 records in 2017/18; Euro Car Parks bought 406,323 records and Smart Parking Ltd paid for 390,860 records.

A total of 119 parking companies paid for data from the DVLA.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Each year we publish this analysis and each year we are not only astonished by the numbers involved, but also by the fact that those numbers keep rocketing up.

“Pursuing so many people must be a major administrative task for the companies involved, but the questions the numbers really beg are: what’s going wrong? Are Britain’s motorists really flouting the rules on such an industrial scale?”

But why are there so many parking tickets now being issued? The RAC Foundation points to the 2012 Protection of Freedoms Act, which banned clamping on private land except in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

The Act instead allowed private parking companies to go after the registered owners of vehicles themselves, instead of proving who the driver was at the time of the so-called offence – hence, as the figures below show, the incredible rise in parking tickets being issued…

Skoda, clearly keen to encourage greater fleet adoption of its ever-expanding range of practical, value-priced cars, has commissioned a survey into what company car drivers get up to.

Some of the stats are unsurprising; Skoda thinks company car drivers spending nearly three years of their career behind the wheel is news, but it actually works out to a perfectly reasonable 13 hours a week (although four of them are likely to be spent stuck in traffic).

• Even company car fleets are ditching diesel
• Hybrids are not a ‘life-for-like’ diesel replacement, fleets warned

And the headline of covering nearly half a million miles over a career is eye-opening, the fact this equates to a mere 235 miles a week is not. That’s little different to the distance covered by the average UK driver!

As ever, it’s all in the details. Company car drivers claim to drink 614 hot drinks behind the wheel every year (no wonder there are drive-through coffee shops sprouting up everywhere). Make over 350 hands-free calls. Use sat nav almost twice a day and admit to singing along to eight songs every week.

The killer fact for us, though, is company car driver’s eating habits. Fleet drivers eat more sandwiches behind the wheel than there are days in the working week – six of them, with a munchsome six bags of crisps a week to go with them. Why six? Do fleet drivers have frequently have hungry days? We’re intrigued. 

The Skoda survey quizzed 1,000 business professionals, and Henry Williams, Head of Fleet for Skoda UK, said “the results… influence the specialist business car range we offer. We know consumer requirements are evolving all the time so our research ensures our cars are always relevant for the driver”.

Skoda’s wise to do this. Two in three company drivers reckon they spend more time in their car than they do on their home sofa, despite only one in three saying they really enjoy driving. A car isn’t just a fleet driver’s office, it’s their life. 

But then, as 20 percent of drivers say it’s the only ‘me time’ they get, perhaps getting behind the wheel, opening up a BLT and a bag of McCoy’s, and cranking up Magic FM might not be so much of a drag after all.

Ford has surprised industry watchers by announcing it is to end the sale of its entire saloon car line in North America. The brand is to instead focus solely on trucks and SUVs – the only cars it will sell in the future are the Mustang sports car and the crossover-style Active version of the upcoming new Focus.

The firm is doing it because cars simply don’t make money in America, and Ford needs to speed up its uptick in profitability to please investors. President and CEO Jim Hackett is now targeting an 8 percent profit margin by 2020, two years earlier than originally targeted.

The plans have already pleased traders; Ford’s share price went up by 2.6 percent following the announcement. But the details of the new plan are leaving some puzzled.

“We are committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximise the returns of our business over the long term,” said Hackett. Where underperforming areas can be made ‘more fit’, they will be… but “if appropriate returns are not on the horizon, we will shift that capital to where we can play and win”.

This is why Ford has decided not to replace the Fiesta, the Fusion (Mondeo) and the Taurus in North America. They will wither and die without replacement. By 2020, 9 in 10 new Fords will instead be trucks, SUVs and commercial vehicles, “markets where Ford can win”.

It is not yet clear what this means for future generations of the Ford Mondeo, derived from the US-spec Fusion (above), although it should be made clear that the Fiesta is safe: a new model has already been developed for Europe, but will not now be exported to America.

The latest Ford Focus is also a project led by Europe, and will be a key Ford product in China, too. 

What’s more, Ford insists it isn’t giving up on cars entirely, and is “exploring new ‘white space’ vehicle silhouettes that combine the best attributes of cars and SUVs, such as higher ride height, space and versatility”.

It will, however, be some time before we find out more details of Ford’s plans: it has confirmed an investor meeting to discuss its vision of the future – but not until 26^th September. For now, the only clarity we have is that Ford is almost entirely giving up on the car market in North America. 

Time will tell whether this is a wise move.

BMW has revealed the new 8 Series Coupe has been conducting final sign-off testing in Wales ahead of its full debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. Wales was chosen as part of the public road test regime because the UK is expected to be a key market for the new range-topping GT car.

BMW bought over an M850i xDrive Coupe for the Welsh drives. It’s a car, we’re told, equipped with a welter of drive and suspension technology, including intelligent four-wheel drive, active rear differential lock, M suspension ‘Professional’ adaptive dampers, active roll stabilisation and Integral Active Steering.

The V8 is an all-new engine that produces 530hp, a big increase on the old 6 Series V8. What’s more “the sound development of the sports exhaust authentically reflects the car’s power delivery,” said BMW engineer Christian Billig. We’ll find out the detail stuff such as fuel economy and CO2 later in the year, nearer to the car’s on-sale date.

Although it’s an all-wheel drive car with a rear-drive focus, 8 Series project manager Markus Flasch reckons “the thing that always impresses when test driving the new 8 Series is its adaptability”, aided by a claim of a low centre of gravity plus a stiff body and suspension.

BMW’s fitting all models with mixed tyres – the rears are wider than the front. “This gave us the possibility when coordination the suspension control systems,” said BMW head of suspension application Jos Van As, “to exploit the potential of the wide rear wheels to attain particularly sporty handling characteristics.

“The higher camber values on all wheels and specifically tuned elastokinematics result in the realisation of exceptionally high cornering speeds prior to the intervention of the electronics.” Which means? “Those who wish can drive on the racing track with active DSC, too.” Have your fun, in safety, without feeling the safety net constantly tugging you, in other words.

BMW also explains why 6 Series has become 8 Series. It’s because ‘8’ cars are “highly emotional and exceptionally sporty vehicles” – in the vein of the old 1990s 8 Series, like the Z8, like the latest i8. It’s going to be “a crucial component in the luxury segment model initiative” of BMW’s current strategy. So now we know.

The days of a £5 car wash could be coming to an end. MPs have launched an investigation into the ethics of working practices at hand car washes.

The Environment Audit Committee will look into employment conditions at hand car washes as well as the impact of chemicals used during the process on nearby water sources, plants and wildlife.

Mary Creagh, who chairs the committee, told the BBC: “We have environmental concerns, we have employment concerns, we have slavery concerns.

“We are trying to get to a place where the public can have confidence that if they are using a hand car wash, they are not contributing to modern slavery. If it only costs a fiver, it may be a slave driver.”

She also said that although such car washes are “cheap and convenient”, the prices may be “too good to be true”.

The concerns have been raised after a Romanian man in east London died in 2014. Sandu Laurentiu was electrocuted while taking a shower in “dilapidated, cramped, rat-infested” living quarters close to the car wash where he worked in Bethnal Green.

The car wash’s owner was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.

There are between 10,000 and 20,000 hand car washes in the UK – with The Car Wash Advisory Service suggesting that as many as 8,000 are ‘bad boys’ engaged in criminal activities.

An investigation by the service in 2014 found that most operators did not have the necessary planning permission to operate a car wash. They also didn’t pay business rates and would illegally dispose of chemicals in sewers.

“The problem is right across the board, it is not just [the fault of] the hand car-wash firms,” said The Car Wash Advisory Service’s director, Dawn Fraser.

“The majority of firms do not pay a legitimate wage, but that is because it is just not being enforced.”

Read more:

• How to spring clean your car
• Revealed: the 10 cheapest cars to run
• More than 1 in 4 motorists switch car insurer after a claim

Volvo caused widespread confusion last year when it made a commitment that all its new cars would be ‘electric’ by 2019. Hiding behind the many mainstream headlines was the fact this included plug-in hybrid cars. Really, Volvo meant either electric or electrified cars.

Now, it’s decided to be clearer in its statement. At the 2018 Beijing Auto Show, it’s announced that 50 percent of its new cars will be fully electric by 2025 – and just in case we’re in any doubt, Volvo Cars president and CEO Hakan Samuelsson makes things clear.

• Every new Volvo will be electrified by 2019
• Volvo targets 1 million electrified cars by 2025

“Last year we made a commitment to electrification in preparation for an era beyond the internal combustion engine.

“Today we reinforce and expand that commitment in the world’s leading market for electrified cars. China’s electric future is Volvo Cars’ electric future.”

Volvo’s making the announcement in China because of the country’s significant commitment to electric cars. Zero-emissions models are part of its solution to air quality problems – and the Chinese government wants ‘new energy’ vehicles to make up 20 percent of total new car sales by 2025.

Forecasts suggest that equates to seven million cars a year.

China is already Volvo’s biggest global market, beating the US, and first-quarter figures this year are up 23.3 percent. Last year, Volvo topped a whopping 100,000 sales in China alone.

That’s why it chose China to launch its new Polestar performance brand – which, once the launch Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid car is launched, has itself committed to a fully-electric range of cars.

The new Electric Production Car Series (EPCS), an all-electric road car-based racing championship, has revealed the 10 rounds that will make up its debut season in 2018/19 – and a race at Silverstone in September 2019 is amongst the confirmed dates.

The EPCS will also conduct a special closed-door ‘pre-race’ trial event at France’s Pau Arnos on 26-27 October 2018, giving competitors a dry run at a race weekend in race-prepared all-electric passenger cars. (To make up for the fact it’s not open to the public, complementary tickets are on offer for the first round to those who register on the Electric GT website)

Then it’s into full-on racing in November, at the former F1 circuit of Jerez, before the series gets underway in earnest in 2019. The Silverstone round, at a date to be confirmed in September, will be the eighth round of the 10-round series.

Other big-name circuits to be visited by the EPCS include France’s Paul Ricard, the Netherland’s challenging Assen and the famous Nürburgring in Germany (albeit the Grand Prix course, not the full Nordschleife…).

Electric GT Holdings, Inc is running the series. Its CEO Mark Gemmell said that “without a doubt, we have secured some of the most exciting European tracks for our first season of the Electric Production Car Series and this gives us a great platform to further expand the championship.

“We have received a great deal of interest from circuits around the world excited by the possibilities that electric racing brings.”

With lots more news promised, Gemmell said he was “stoked about the future and we are all looking forward to bringing elbows-out electric racing action to fans around the world”.

There’s but one slight disclaimer: all the Electric GT series needs to do now, we’re told, is close the first institutional fundraising round and firm up the financing before its “definitive” launch this autumn.

But with the promise of 20 drivers racing identical Tesla Model S P100D, all with custom-developed Pirelli tyres and Alcon brakes, for a 60km day race and a 60km night race – streamed via YouTube, Periscope and Twitch, surely it won’t be long before the FIA-sanctioned zero-emissions series receives the final full green light?

Electric Production Car Series – 2018/19 calendar

Pre-Race: Pau, France– 26-27 Oct 2018

Race 1 & 2: Jerez, Spain– 3-4 Nov 2018

Race 3: Paul Ricard, France– tba Feb/Mar 2019

Race 4 & 5: TBA– May 2019

Race 6: Nürburgring, Germany– 29 Jun 2019

Race 7: Assen, Netherlands– 20-21 Jul 2019

Race 8: Silverstone, UK– tba Sept 2019

Race 9: TBA– Sept 2019

Race 10: Portimao, Portugal – 12-13 Oct 2019