06 Ford F550 Rear Rear Assy **321974** on 2040-parts.com

Ford's automotive assembly line celebrates 100th anniversary

A mere century ago, on Oct. 7, 1913, Henry Ford rigged up a rope tow to get Model T chassis across the floor of his Highland Park assembly plant -- essentially winching cars across the factory floor and adding a set schedule of parts at certain intervals. The implementation may have been a bit primitive, but Ford was on the cusp something big: applying the concepts of the moving assembly line to the complicated, costly process of automobile production.

Nissan Super-Juke with 480hp planned

The 480hp Nissan Super Juke Only last week we had news that the appealing Nissan Juke has had a few tweaks to make it more economical; more suited to its urban environment. But now comes new from the other end of the economy spectrum with a report that Nissan Europe is planning a monster ‘Super’ Juke complete with the turbo V6 from the Nissan GT-R. The photo above – courtesy of our friends at Jalopnik – shows just what the Juke on steroids will look like.

Merc to revive straight six, plus 4cyl and smaller V8s

Mercedes has just signed off a new engine family which will see most full-sized Mercs in future run four-cylinders, downsized V8s and… straight sixes. A friendly Mercedes engineer recently met CAR to disclose the engine plans for future models, including the surprise disclosure that Merc plans to switch to straight sixes, like its rivals over in Munich.  It's fair to say I almost choked on my breakfast croissant when I found out the details of the next MB engine generation which has just been signed off for release in 2015. Mercedes' future four-cylinder engines Again, there will be a family of new low-cost fours, and the big-bore V8s will be replaced by a series of downsized turbocharged 4.0-litre units.