00 01 Saturn L Series Sedan Starter Motor 2.2l on 2040-parts.com

Designer Tom Matano part of start-up car company in Louisiana

A new auto company backed by Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano plans to build "environmentally friendly" vehicles in Louisiana. V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, will bring about 1,400 workers to a Monroe plant that once belonged to General Motors, according to a statement Wednesday from the Louisiana Economic Development Web site.

Mazda Celebrates MX-5’s Quarter Century In Style

AS part of the MX-5’s 25th birthday celebrations, Mazda has released a limited edition version of its iconic roadster. The MX-5 Roadster Coupe 2.0-litre 25th Anniversary Limited Edition hits the showrooms in August and, to ensure its limited run status, just 1,000 individually numbered examples will be built. Crucially, in a testament to Britain's enduring love affair with open-topped motoring 750 units will be made available to UK customers, with number one being unveiled at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed on 26-29th June.

Infiniti Steer-by-Wire on the way (video)

Nissan has revealed that it plans to install an electronic steer-by-wire system in to its Infiniti models in 2013. As car makers seek to squeeze every last fraction of a mile out of their cars to hit economy and emissions targets, computer control of many of a car’s functions are controlled by computer, which means the official tests for economy and emissions can be guaranteed to produce predictable results. Now Nissan are to take electronic steering to its logical conclusion by eliminating any direct connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels (except in an emergency) with the first fly-by-wire steering system in a production car.