99 00 01 02 03 Saab 9-3 Front Windshield Wiper Motor Conv 507343 on 2040-parts.com

The return of the Real MINI

The MINI Concept - heralding the revival of the Isetta and Topolino marques [ad#ad-1] Back in January, we speculated on the return of the Topolino and Isetta marques in a joint venture by BMW and Fiat to launch a range of super-eco city cars to rival those that manufacturers like VW and Mercedes are developing. And according to Auto Express those plans are getting close to being realised. This is a bold move by BMW and Fiat to gain ground over their rivals with models that offer extreme economy, but sport a legendary moniker to give the models added kudos.

Official: Aston Martin gets its hands on Mercedes AMG engines & Electronic Architecture

Aston Martin & AMG confirm they’re getting in bed together Back in December we reported that Aston Martin had new investment from Investindustrial and wondered if that would mean – thanks to an existing relationship between Investindustrial and AMG – if we’d see Aston Martin finally getting access to AMG’s engines and platforms. By May, things had moved on and it was clear that Aston Martin and AMG were in talks for Aston Martin to get access to their engines for the next generation of AML’s cars. Now those talks have borne fruit and AMG and AML have signed a letter of intent for Aston Martin to “access significant Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Mercedes-Benz Cars’ resources, allowing the development of bespoke V8 powertrains and the use of certain components of electric/electronic (e/e) architecture.” Interestingly, there’s no talk of V12 engines – which could mean Aston Martin are going to move from the current Ford V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish to a powerful V8 from AMG – and nor is there talk of sharing platforms.

Toyota/Scion coupe specs reach the Internet

Specifications for the Toyota FT-86 and Scion FR-S coupes have leaked on the Internet via scanned images of the training manual, posted at www.ft86club.com. If the site's translations are correct, the 2,667-pound coupe will use a 2.0-liter flat-four engine that makes 197 hp at 7,000 rpm and 150 lb-ft of torque at 6,600 rpm. It looks as if the FR-S will come in two trim levels: a higher-spec variant that features a limited-slip rear differential in both manual and automatic versions of the car and a lower-spec model that has only the limited-slip diff with the manual transmission.