Steve Davies

I have always considered the Renault Wind to be a car, intended primarily for female buyers who'd like something stylish, easy-to-park and manoeuvrable in towns and cities. That's not intended as a slur on our female audience, some of whom (including Mrs D) would quite happily drive around in a 911 every day, but chic two-seaters such as the Renault Wind have proven popular with the fairer-sex and style is a large part of its appeal.

MINI is back in Monte Carlo and this time it's the iconic version that won the famous rally in the sixties meeting up with the latest MINI WRC that sees the brand back on the world rally stage. Rauno Aaltonen (FI) was driving the 1960s version when he was greeted at the end of the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique in the early hours of the 2nd February by Kris Meeke (GB) and Dani Sordo (ES), the drivers who will revive the brand’s rallying tradition this year with the MINI Countryman-based WRC contender.

Following swiftly on from last week's 911 Black Edition, Porsche have revealed another Black Edition special, this time for the Boxster. Unlike the £67,000 911 Black Edition, which is priced to match the base 911 Carrera, the Boxster Black Edition is more than £3,500 more expensive than the Boxster S at £47,426 when it is launched in March 2011.

Motor Sport magazine is offering its subscribers the chance to win 1 of 5 pairs of tickets to the Hall of Fame 2011, held at the Round House in London on Tuesday 15 February. Celebrating and honouring the achievements of motor racing’s greatest luminaries, the event brings together a host of personalities from the sport.

We brought you news and pictures of Mercedes' new 2011 C63 AMG last week, after a minor slip at Mercedes HQ let the news out a little early. What we didn't have at that time were the prices and technical details of Mercedes' most-compact 'bahnstormer.

Sorry I couldn't resist the headline - it was inspired by Lotus' announcement this morning that the Senna name is once again united with Lotus as Bruno Senna signs with Lotus Renault GP as third driver and also becomes the latest ambassador for Group Lotus.

The legendary Team Lotus name has returned to Formula One™ for the 2011 season with its new chassis, the TL128. It’s been a long while in the making and we're told it’s very different from last year’s car, the TL127. "With last year’s car and especially the ¬first half of the season it was just an exercise in survival, whereas from the middle of last year it was about building the team up – that’s when we started working on this car.", says Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

If you work in the automotive sector then you'll be heartened to read the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer, the company's 11th annual research study into the trust and credibility of businesses around the world. For 2011 Automotive climbs to become the 2nd most trusted industry sector, just behind Technology which retained the No.1 spot for a second year in a row.