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

Flying car gets regulatory clearance

The Jetsons' futuristic vision of a flying car is one step closer to becoming a reality. Terrafugia, a Massachusetts company developing a "roadable aircraft" named the Transition, just received special exemptions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that will help it move the vehicle move forward to production. NHTSA will allow the Transition to be outfitted with plastic windows rather than standard automotive safety glass.

Visionary tech

Ignore the marketers: There's nothing new under the technological sun. Cost and reliability concerns may have hindered the early adoption of these auto-tech breakthroughs, though you'd never know it based on their present-day ubiquity. 1941: Crossovers The combination of a fully enclosed, carlike body and all-wheel-drive underpinnings got its start with the Volkswagen Type 87 Kommandeurwagen.

New CAFE proposal would add $5,000 to sticker price, dealer group says

An Obama administration proposal to nearly double today's fuel economy standards could end up tacking on $5,000 to the sticker price of a new vehicle, a top official with the National Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday. The proposal, which seeks to raise the corporate average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, would force automakers to adopt costly fuel-saving technologies that could eventually price some buyers out of the new-car market, said Don Chalmers, chairman of NADA's government relations committee. NADA, a dealer trade association, represents 16,000 new-vehicle dealers who operate 32,500 franchises.