Aisin Vst012 Vacuum Switching Valve on 2040-parts.com

Pink Rolls Royce FAB 1 actually has a pink vinyl ‘Wrap’

But it seems Rolls Royce must have thought much the same, as it turns out that the impressive paint job isn’t actually that at all, but a pink vinyl wrap provided – free of charge – by car vinyl wrap experts Raccoon. Raccoon chose a gloss laminated film to wrap the Ghost to make sure it looked as indistinguishable as possible from a bespoke paint job, and it worked. No one has noticed the pinks Rolls Royce doesn’t have a custom paint job and that’s down to Raccoon taking extreme care to carefully wrap not just the outside panels, but also stuff like door sills and any areas that might otherwise give the game away.

Nissan raises Leaf prices, adds retail markets

Nissan North America said Tuesday that it will add $2,420 to the price of the base model of its hard-to-get, slow-to-build electric Leaf sedan. Compared to 2011 model year's $33,630 base price, including delivery, the 2012 model will begin at $36,050. The car's upper-grade SL model will sell for $38,100, an increase of $3,530 over 2011.

Alfa Romeo will reportedly become standalone company

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne plans to turn Alfa Romeo into a standalone company, Automotive News Europe reports. Marchionne is expected to announce wide-ranging plans for the brand on May 6 which will see Alfa Romeo become a stand-alone legal entity within Fiat-Chrysler, with a publicly disclosed profit and loss statement. Alfa Romeo is currently part of Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A., which also contains Lancia, Fiat Professional trucks and vans and the Abarth performance brand.