1951 Buick Fireball Straight 8 on 2040-parts.com

AA celebrates 40 years of 'get you home'

THIS MONTH the Automobile Association is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Recovery service - originally called AA Relay - that promised to get you home or to your destination. Back in 1973 there were very limited options if your broken-down car could not be fixed at the side of the road. The AA patrol could only tow you to your local garage to have it fixed or you would have to carry on your journey without the car.

Mercedes-Benz courts Renault for new Smart model based on Twingo

Mercedes-Benz is set to join forces with Renault in a deal aimed at providing its underdeveloped Smart division with a contemporary-engineered front-engine/front-wheel-drive platform as the basis for a frugal new Forfour model. The new Smart, due out in 2013, is planned to sit on a lightly modified version of the Renault Twingo’s underpinnings, complete with a 93.3-inch wheelbase. Speaking about the new car over the weekend, a highly placed Mercedes-Benz official told AutoWeek: “It’s a key component in plans to grow the Smart brand.

Porsche 911 GT3 new engine production starts April 22nd 2014

The new engines for the Porsche 911 GT3 (pictured) start production this month The recall for the Porsche 911 GT3 after a couple of fires forced Porsche to evaluate the cause – and stop further production – now looks to have not only been resolved, but a fix is soon to be available. But Porsche is taking no chances with any sort of sticking plaster fix and is instead building new engines for the 911 GT3, with optimized piston rod screw connection – the cause of the problem – to make sure nothing goes wrong again. Porsche are planning to start production of the revised engine on 22nd April and will be despatching engines out to dealers shortly thereafter for them to fit to the affected cars.