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

Fiat 500 1957 Edition revealed ahead of LA Auto Show

While American teenagers were cruising around in finned interstate crushers, Europeans of all ages were discovering the wonder of automobile ownership thanks to the tiny, affordable Fiat Nuova 500, introduced to a car-hungry public in 1957. The little two-cylinder city car was a smash hit, with 3,893,294 built before production ended in 1975. Fiat 500 production resumed in 2007, but the new car was vastly different from the original: Its engine gained two cylinders and moved to the front of the car, while its footprint, though diminutive by American standards, positively dwarfs that of its predecessor.

Volkswagen Touran

Volkswagen unveiled the new Touran at the Leipzig Motor Show last week. Though not an entirely new design, the revisions to the Touran were made to bring the car in line with other offerings in the Volkswagen stable - namely the Polo, Golf and the recently revealed Touareg SUV. At the front, a new grille with horizontal lines sits atop a new front bumper, while revised taillights with LED bulbs join a new tailgate and bumper at the rear.

Mitsubishi revamps U.S. strategy

Mitsubishi plans a different U.S. model lineup and a new production strategy for its assembly plant in Normal, Ill., as it shifts emphasis away from regionally focused vehicles to global small cars, hybrids and electrics. Shinichi Kurihara, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America, says the company will launch four new models in the United States within three years, as four slow-selling U.S.-built vehicles are phased out of production by 2014.