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

Fiat 500 UK Charity boost

One of the Fiat 500s donated by Fiat and decorated by Damian Hirst which were auctioned for the ARK Charity Over the course of a couple of days this week six Fiat 500s have been donated by Fiat for charity auctions and raised almost £500,000 in to the process. Which, cute and interesting as the Fiat 500 is, does sound rather a lot. After all, even the new Fiat 500C retails (in pop spec) at just over £11k.

Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

One Lap of the Web: a lap of the 'Ring, a lap of the YouTubes and a lap of the eBays

-- The Porsche 918 achieved a spectacular and borderline-unbelievable time just a few days ago, but here are some less heroic cars lapping the 'Ring, like Peugeot 205s, modern BMWs and a few bikes mixed in for good measure. Check out the classic Heckflosse (fintail) Mercedes-Benz at 2:05. -- Filmmaker Casey Neistat filmed, umm, a pretty good commercial for the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, but it's the making-of video that's even more fun to watch.