Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Frank Stephenson appointed Director of Design for Alfa Romeo

Frank Stephenson began his new position as Director of Design at Alfa Romeo today, CDN can reveal. Stephenson left his role as Head of the Fiat, Lancia and Commercial Vehicle Styling Center last month and is now effectively filling a role that has been unoccupied since Wolfgang Egger left to become head of Audi's Style Center. Since Lorenzo Ramaciotti has been recently appointed to a newly created position as Cheif of Design at Fiat, Stephenson's previous position is now vacant.

Call for complete smoking ban in cars

A COMPLETE BAN on smoking in cars should be introduced by law. That is the finding of a study of driver attitudes, where 71% said the Government should go further than it presently does to people smoking in cars. Of 7500 people polled, the study found 71% also believe smoking in cars should be made a criminal offence if children are in the car at the same time.

Get up close and personal with the David Brown Automotive Speedback

The David Brown Automotive Speedback is certainly one of the more intriguing coachbuilt cars we've seen recently -- all the more so because it's a product of Britain, not the carrozzeria hub of Italy. We just got our first glimpse of the Speedback yesterday, and thanks to this XCar video, we can dive a bit deeper into the car's origins and its many design details (unfortunately, there's no on-road footage yet). The Speedback, in the words of DBA founder David Brown, seeks to combine the “classic simplicity of the '60s underpinned by a modern platform with all of the functionality you'd expect from a modern car.” And it does so successfully, from what we can tell so far.