Aftercooler Intercooler Right Side Perkins Tv540 M V8 Diesel on 2040-parts.com

Moody's boosts Ford's credit rating

Moody's Investors Service upgraded Ford Motor Co.'s debt to investment grade, culminating the automaker's six-year struggle to win back the Blue Oval and other assets mortgaged in 2006. Moody's is the second agency to upgrade Ford's debt from junk status, paving the way for the company to recover assets it mortgaged in 2006 to stave off bankruptcy. The company raised $23.5 billion in a move that allowed it to avoid government bailouts or bankruptcy when the industry collapsed in 2008.

Ford to sell Aston Martin

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 31 August 2006 02:39 The world’s two biggest luxury goods firms – including the conglomerate behind brands like Moet and Louis Vuitton – are locked in a battle to buy Aston Martin from cash-starved Ford. Ford announced today that the British sports car manufacturer would be sold and CAR has learned that Swiss-based Richemont and the French holding company LVMH have emerged as most likely to take on Aston despite having no previous experience in the car industry. Ford desperately needs to tap into the potential $700m-$1bn the sale of Aston could generate and hopes to finalise a deal by the end of the year.

Concept Car of the Week: Mercedes F200 Imagination (1996)

The F200 Imagination was designed at Mercedes' Advanced Design studio in Tokyo, in response to the question 'does the car of the future still have a steering wheel and foot-operated controls?' Take a look at the car's interior and the answer was fairly emphatic, as the steering wheel and pedals were replaced by joysticks, called Sidesticks, that operated the throttle, brakes and steering by wire. There were two sticks to choose from, one on the left of the cabin and one in the center console. However, both had the same function – push forward to accelerate, left or right to turn, and back to brake – so either of the front passengers could control the car.