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

EBay exotic: 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina 2000

I'm a sucker for a four-door Alfa, and this bright red Berlina 2000 posted by our friends at Bring a Trailer has yours truly all aflutter this morning. Formerly owned by an Alfa Romeo employee in the United States, this car shows just a tick less than 89,000 original miles and wears fresh paint as of a few years ago. The seller, himself an Alfisti, claims that the gauges and mechanicals are all in correct working order, and the original factory air conditioning apparently operates as well as it did when new--which likely isn't very well, but still, it makes an interesting conversation piece.

Contest: Volkswagen Slipstream wins 2007 LA Design Challenge

Volkswagen's Slipstream concept has won the fourth annual Design Challenge competition, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designer's conference. The award was presented during the second press day of the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.  The theme of this year's competition, RoboCar of 2057, asked eight automotive design studios in California to form their vision of the future by depicting a vehicle that incorporates artificial intelligence engineered to make life easier and more attractive to consumers 50 years from now. Designers entered two-dimensional renderings and concept descriptions predicting how the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence will integrate into the automobile to make life safer, more practical and attractive, and the entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based on its originality of creative concept, integration of robotics and level of adaptation to a variety of environmental conditions and consumer needs.

Aston Martin Vantage GT4 2011 updates

Aston Martin Vantage GT4 2011 updates Aston Martin’s Vantage for the track – the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 – has only been racing for a couple of years. But in that short time Aston Martin has managed to shift more than 80 GT4s to customers and the GT4 has become the most successful car in its class, with wins at the Spa 24 hours, Nurburgring 24 hours and others. But resting on your laurels is no way to continue being on top so, despite – or perhaps because of – the GT4′s success, Aston Martin has wheeled out updates for 2011 to keep the GT4 on top of its game.