* Mercruiser 3.0 L 3927797 Af Water Pulley on 2040-parts.com

Italdesign to unveil fast but frugal hybrid car at Geneva motor show

Italdesign Giugiaro will unveil a concept for a fast but fuel efficient hybrid coupe at the Geneva auto show. The Italian design and engineering company says the two-seater can reach a top speed of 186 mph (300 kph) and accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in less than 4 seconds. The still unnamed concept will travel 117 miles on a gallon of gasoline, Italdesign says.

Pforzheim University International Design Forum 2004

The jury included design chiefs Chris Bangle (BMW), Peter Pfeiffer (Mercedes), Murat G�nak (VW), Martin Smith (Opel), Chris Bird (Ford) und Francois de Gaillard (Webasto). First prize went to Pforzheim student Philipp R�mers for his 'PFaeno' concept. The prize for Best Marketing Strategy went to Shi Jia from Tsinghua University.

Mechanics qualifications gained using Haynes manuals

MOST MEN enjoy a good Haynes car manual, whether they really understand it or not, but a group of youngsters has used the workshop guides to achieve their first qualifications in car mechanics. The first wave of the Haynes Mechanix scheme has seen a mixed gender youth club group, aged 15-25 and from Islington in London, use Haynes manuals along with guidance from experienced mentors to fix real problems on a real car. The donor Volkswagen, known as Percy the Polo, was a theoretical MOT fail and needed replacement spark plugs, a brake fluid replacement and much more, to give the aspiring tinkerers a broad spectrum of challenges.