05 Kawasaki Ninja Ex 500 Left Tail Fairing C11 on 2040-parts.com

Ellesmere Port's bid to build Ampera hits snags

By Rob Golding Motor Industry 09 October 2009 15:02 Prime minister Gordon Brown’s personal crusade to get Vauxhall's version of the Chevrolet Volt petrol-electric plug-in hybrid – the Ampera – built in Britain's Ellesmere Port factory in 2012 is a dream delayed, CAR can disclose today.News that the UK Astra plant is the best in Europe, that the Astra's Delta platform will underpin the Ampera, and that Volt will be on US sale from 2010 had been taken to mean that Vauxhall would be churning out the cars in the north west within three years.But the prospect of an electric car industry growing up around the run-down Merseyside manufacturing site is not imminent, CAR has learned.'No Ampera to be built in Europe before 2015'Vauxhall insiders have made it clear that the car to be known as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera in Europe will be an import from the US for at least five years. One senior planner told us: 'The US will be the sole source of Amperas until at least 2015.'Bob Lutz, GM's former product supremo who recently came out of retirement as a PR, said that the low value of the dollar made the US an ideal site for the manufacturing of export cars. And with forecast sticker prices of the range-extender electric car standing at a scary £35,000+, every price saving is vital to its marketability.The European market also needs time to get its electricity recharge infrastructure in place before it is worth making cars onshore in volume, GM high-ups point out.

Saab to get BMW turbocharged engines in 2012

Saab Automobile and BMW AG announced an agreement Wednesday that will supply engines for Saab's next-generation 9-3. Under the agreement, BMW will provide Saab with four-cylinder 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engines starting in 2012. The engines will be adapted to meet Saab's specific requirements.

John Pope Special: the Vauxhall with an Aston Martin engine for sale

The eBay description says it all: "Vauxhall Magnum with an Aston Martin DBS V8 twin turbo engine fitted. DBS running gear, raced between 1973 and 1981." If that doesn't get the high octane petrol running through your veins, nothing will. It's called the John Pope Special and it started life as two cars - an accident damaged Aston Martin DBS V8 and a Vauxhall Magnum donated by Vauxhall.