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

Vauxhall Astra (2009): the first sketches

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 08 September 2008 09:00 Vauxhall has just issued these first official sketches of the new Astra ahead of its launch in 2009 at next year's Frankfurt motor show. Although heavily silhouetted, we can make out an evolution of today's mid-sized hatchback. This sketch is of the coupe-style three-door Astra, but there will again be a more upright five-door and indeed a whole suite of other Astras to fit every pocket.

Concept Car of the Week: Italdesign Machimoto (1986)

The Machimoto might look and sound like a Japanese concept, but it was developed in Europe in the Turin-based Italdesign studio, and was based on a Volkswagen Golf GTI platform. The name actually derives from MACHIna (car in Italian) and MOTOciclo (motorcycle) as the perfect hybrid between the worlds of two- and four-wheelers. Unveiled on its home turf at the Turin motor show in 1986, it landed like a UFO, shocking both the public and the press.

Hyundai’s hydrogen-powered ix35 turns its hand to growing fish and food

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV Fuel Cell Farm outside the London Design Museum Hyundai PR do like a slightly left-field take on raising awareness of Hyundai’s products (although they usually involve animals, children, fashion or shopping), so a Hyundai ix35 FCEV turned in to a fuel cell farm should come as no surprise, nor that they parked it outside London’s Design Museum for a bit of extra profile. With the help of sustainability creatives (who’d have thought there was such a business?) Something & Son, Hyundai has created a Fuel Cell Farm (well, depending on your definition of how big something growing has to be to be called a farm) that uses the emissions from the ix35 FCEV as its water source. The setup takes the water from the ix35 and feeds it in to the fish tank, the fish do what fish do and the aquaponics gubbins takes that and uses it as food for the plants.