Fiberglass Exhaust Tube on 2040-parts.com

Ford Fiesta deliveries delayed, storm-damaged rail lines blamed

Ford Motor Co.'s shipments of the 2011 Ford Fiesta subcompact to U.S. dealerships will be delayed by 10 days to two weeks because of storm-damaged railroad lines. Key railroads in northern Mexico were severely damaged by Hurricane Alex on June 30 and later by Tropical Storm Bonnie, said Angie Kozleski, a Ford spokeswoman.

One lap of the Web: Amphibious awesomeness, retro Land Rovers and a toy Toyota engine

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Looks like the Willow Run assembly plant outside of Ypsilanti, Mich.

Mercedes B55 (2011) - a ballistic V8 B-class

Mercedes' tuning arm AMG has not yet ventured into sensible B-class territory, but a bunch of Merc trainees in Germany has come up with this: the B55. It's a V8-powered B-class, complete with AMG-spec 383bhp 5.5-litre V8 mounted up front and driving an old W210 E-class rear axle. Sounds like a promising skunkworks special, derived from an old B200 CDI hack that was kicking about the training centre.