01 02 03 Ford Taurus Automatic Transmission 220338 on 2040-parts.com

2012 Volkswagen Beetle to launch with Black Turbo edition

Volkswagen is borrowing a page from sister company Porsche and will turn to the color black to sex up the soon-to-arrive 2012 VW Beetle--and to draw attention to a preorder program launching this year. The Beetle Black Turbo edition follows in the lineage of Porsche 911s augmented with Black editions, and the VW will sticker for $25,720, including shipping. Power comes from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder rated at 200 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque, which is the same as the regular turbo Beetle--and VW's hot hatch, the GTI.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S (2011) at 2011 Geneva motor show

Good news for fans of Aston Martin's V8 Vantage, and especially those who found it a touch slow: the new, musclier V8 Vantage S.  The Aston Martin Vantage S is a tweaked-up version of the regular Vantage, and a full production model. It's the fastest Vantage yet! The biggest change is under the bonnet. The 4.7-litre V8 now has a stouter 430bhp, which makes it 20bhp more powerful than the Vantage N24 and 30bhp up on the N400 special editions.

GM recalls Vettes to replace roof panel

Plenty of Chevrolet Corvette owners like to think they can blow the doors of most everything else on the road. But General Motors is now recalling Vettes from the 2005 through 2007 model years because the roof panel might blow off. The recall covers Corvette coupes with the removable roof panel.