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

Building a business around Alfa lust

In a low-key industrial complex just north of Detroit sits a trove of 1960s and '70s Alfa Romeos. To describe it as a “treasure” trove doesn't quiet fit, because in the words of owner Richard Davisson, the Italian icons are “everything from pathetic to just about done.” Several of the dozen or so cars are gorgeous. Most are interesting.

VW Pickup concept (2008): first official photos

By Chris Chilton First Official Pictures 24 September 2008 18:00 He’s designed Alfa Romeos, Audis and even a Lamborghini but now Walter de'Silva has gone all humanitarian and designed a pick-up.  VW’s first small flatbed since the Mk1 Golf-based Caddy will take on trucks like the Toyota Hilux and Mitusbishi L200 when it goes on sale late in 2009. It is, but not for long. This thinly veiled concept, called simply Pickup Concept, has been designed as a search and rescue vehicle for coastguards but essentially this is what badge-conscious UK builders will be driving in 2009. The new Volkswagen corporate face with its monobrow top grille and wide mouth is likely to be carried over mostly unchanged to the cars that will roll off the South African production line, as will the surprisingly stylish interior which features hooded instruments and Audi TT-style air vents. Mechanical details are sketchy but Volkswagen claims that engines will be common-rail diesels which rules out the old-tech 2.5 five pot that powers many of VW’s current commercials.

Why driverless Audi at Pikes Peak is sinister

CAR Online reader JenkinsComp has a bee under his bonnet about the new driverless Audi TT S unveiled today. It foreshadows a political drive to stop us driving our own cars - transferring power from individual to state. You have been warned...