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

Collector electrifies a 1955 LaSalle Roadster

Just months after Joe Bortz's unveiling of the restored 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne, the auto archeologist and collector is moving into the second phase of restoration with another General Motors Motorama concept car: the 1955 LaSalle Roadster. But here's the key difference--the LaSalle is going electric. As the LaSalle's motor was never completed, the roadster is considered a “push mobile.” To prepare the car so that it can be driven--rather than pushed--on the road, Bortz has teamed up with Pioneer Conversions, an Illinois business focusing in the electric conversion of various vehicles.

Banks and Ryan ready for Pikes Peak

Gale Banks, part-time stunt driver Mike Ryan and the diesel wizards from Gale Banks Engineering will return to Pikes Peak this year with the Freightliner Cascadia that finished ninth in 2012. Competing in the Pikes Peak Open class, the team has been furiously working on the truck at the Banks Performance home base in Azusa, Calif. To get the semi tractor up the 12.4 mile road, Banks is installing its Super-Turbo setup on the 14.7-liter, Detroit Diesel-equipped truck.

Kitten hitch-hiker

COUNCIL STAFF staff are appealing for the owners of a black kitten to come forward - after it hitched a lift on one of their vans. The kitten was found cowering under the wheel-arch of the vehicle by horticultural workers at South Somerset District Council. It is believed to have boarded the van at the authority's Lufton Depot in Yeovil and clung on until arriving in Bruton - around 20 miles away.