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

Lego movie needs vehicle designers

Lego is giving its fans the chance to win $1,000 and see their own custom Lego vehicle designs on the big screen in ‘Lego: The Motion Picture'. There are no limitations on what kind of vehicles you can design, but the trick is that the vehicle you design must look like it was built from something else - a castle that was made into a racecar, a hot dog stand that was made into an airplane, for example. The Warner Brothers 3D CGI film will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – director of '21 Jump Street' and ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' – and produced by Dan Lin (‘Sherlock Holmes') and ‘How to Train Your Dragon' producer Roy Lee.

Who's Where: Ken Okuyama parts company with Pininfarina

Pininfarina, the Turin, Italy-based automotive styling house, has announced that its design director, Ken Okuyama, has left the company. In a tersely-worded statement Pininfarina said, "The Company's decision comes as a result of the various external activities Ken Okuyama was carrying out beyond his responsibilities within Pininfarina." Ken Okuyama had been Design Director at Pininfarina since July 2005. During this time, Okuyama's most high-profile work was the Maserati Birdcage prototype, created to celebrate 75th anniversary of the Italian styling house.

Ford debuts another Australian hot rod

Ford's Australian-based Performance Vehicles operation has unveiled its fastest car to date—the Falcon-based FPV GT R-spec. To be assembled at Ford Performance Vehicle's headquarters on the outskirts of Melbourne, the rear-wheel drive GT R-spec packs the same engine as the earlier GT335, a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 producing 449 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. But, a range of chassis modifications, including a retuned suspension, wider 19-inch rear wheels and tires and new launch control system are claimed to provide the greater off-the-line speed than any previous model from Ford's Australian outpost.