In November 2017, Tesla announced their first effort in the commercial vehicle market – the Semi. In the presentation given by CEO Elon Musk, some very impressive claims were made about the capabilities of the Semi - but given Tesla’s problems surrounding the Model 3, can they deliver on them?

In 2018 Alfa Romeo – after a thirty year absence – will be re-joining the pinnacle of motorsport for the Formula 1 18/19 season having teamed up with the Sauber team.

They are a marque with undoubted pedigree and a long history stretching back to the days of the very first Grand Prix’s, and will be a welcome addition to the F1 stable.

Appearing as if from nowhere and spreading across the roads like black pits of alloy shattering despair - winter brings about the growth of the dreaded pothole more than at any other time of year.

In their wake arises the relentless sea of orange plastic and amber light, to further torment motorists into traffic jam induced rages of impotence.  It doesn’t have to be this way, salvation is close to hand.

Technology is currently advancing at the fastest rate ever seen in the history of mankind. Advances that had never been dreamed of let alone fulfilled have come and gone; every new challenge that arises invites even greater determination to conquer it as soon as possible.

Back in 1997, Andy Green driving Thrust SSC shattered the land speed record by the largest margin in the records history when he achieved a top speed of 763mph - becoming the first and only supersonic man on land – and beating the previous record of 634mph set by Richard Noble driving Thrust 2 back in 1983.

In November 2017 the UK government announced it was committing £100million to an industry matched investment fund designed to encourage the testing and development of driverless car technology on its roads. There are currently two existing testing centres in the UK and this will work to combine them into a central hub.

Since its inception, the automobile has been subject to constant and relentless refinement to the point where the average car now possesses some extremely clever and complex engineering.

One of the more impressive components in any automobile is its transmission or ‘gearbox’, and whilst most cars do not benefit from the technology, the synchromesh gearbox is what the single-clutch manual transmission aspires to be. At least for the time being.