2006 Chevy Impala 8 Miles Fuel Pump 726611 on 2040-parts.com

First Fiat 500s will have stick shifts

The 2012 Fiat 500 , heading to U.S. dealerships later than first expected, is enduring another hiccup: The first units arriving in dealerships in late February will have manual transmissions, the company said. Moreover, only about 20 percent of the 130 Fiat dealerships will be open when those first cars arrive, said Laura Soave, head of the Fiat brand in North America, at the Detroit auto show last week.

Toyota's quake-hit Yaris plant offline for at least another month

Toyota's quake-hammered Miyagi assembly plant, which makes the Yaris small car for export to the United States, is expected to be offline for at least another month. Workers have completed repairs at the factory and restored electricity, but the facility cannot get supplies of natural gas, a person familiar with the situation said. The assessment underscores the long road facing Toyota and other Japanese automakers in bringing plants back into full operation following the deadly quake, which killed more than 11,000 people, ruptured gas lines, shutdown electric grids and snarled logistics across half the country.

Liberal Petrolhead. Oxymoron? Not any more

Vince Cable gets behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DBS With the Liberal / Conservative coalition now in charge we seem to have got a Government where a big chunk of the ministers are Liberals (is there a Liberal MP without a portfolio of some description?). Which I suppose is the price we pay for allowing the Conservatives to become Labour Lite instead of having real conviction politicians. Still, it throws up some interesting conflicts.