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

Citroen C1 gets insurance ‘Black Box’ as standard. Orwellian control arrives.

Citroen has announced that the C1 Connexion will now come with a Telematics ‘Black Box’ as standard fitting as Big Brother moves closer. As if it wasn’t enough that every street corner, business and park now has at least one CCTV camera, that we’re prosecuted for ‘speeding’ by yellow boxes on poles that take no account of road conditions or circumstances and that motorists are being milked dry by ‘stupid’ box junction and red light cameras, now Citroen are to fit a telematics ‘Black Box’ as standard to its C1 Connexion. Citroen say the ‘Black Box’ fitting is so they can offer free insurance to buyers, with anyone from 19-75 getting a year’s free insurance with every C1 as long as they have at least two years no claims bonus.

rusEFI: Open-source homebuilt fuel-injection set to rival Megasquirt

Electronic fuel-delivery and ignition controls have given us a new golden age of engine efficiency and performance. Most of us would never go back to the dark ages—say, before 1990—when you could still buy new vehicles with carburetors and clunky distributors. From the point of view of those of us who like to modify our cars, however, the black-box nature of engine-control computers limits our options for making changes to how our fuel-delivery and ignition systems function.

Classic car commercial: 1985 Chevy Astro van

You remember Chevy's answer to the Chrysler minivan, right? Of course you do. After all, General Motors built the rear-drive (and AWD) Chevrolet Astro for 20 years before finally putting it out to pasture.