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

House narrowly passes scaled-back 'cash-for-clunkers' bill

The U.S. House on Tuesday narrowly passed a scaled-back version of a bill that would give consumers cash vouchers of between $3,500 and $4,500 if they trade in their cars for newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The $1 billion cash-for-guzzlers proposal, modeled after successful programs in Germany and other European countries, is part of a $106 billion supplemental spending measure designed mostly to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Concept Car of the Week: Bertone BMW Pickster (1998)

The creation of new niche products is an ongoing process for car manufacturers and sometimes combining different segments into one can provide a popular solution. Nowadays, all these mongrels are usually categorised under the same label ‘Crossover', which doesn't mean much anymore a part perhaps for an artificial off-road appearance. But back in America's sixties, the combination of a pick-up's functionality with the style and driving performance of a sports car became so successful that it created a whole new segment.

Fiat 500L: Now it’s the ‘Fatherhood’ video

Fiat has followed up their viral ‘Motherhood’ video for the new 500L with a new version to balance the gender bias – ‘Fatherhood’. That was because Fiat managed to tap in to the woes of parenthood (or, more precisely, motherhood) with a bit of a hip-hop ditty by a vexed young mother, bemoaning the changes motherhood has wrought on her life. It was a clever bit of marketing to target grown-up lovers of Fiat’s funky little 500, with the family sized version of their favourite car offering solace for a very different lifestyle.