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

'American Nitro' is back!

"Seventies drag-race mayhem is back!" bills "American Nitro," a schlocky drive-in exploitation film whose only quote of praise, from a dog-eared period issue of "Car Craft," reads, simply, "SPECTACULAR CRASHES!" Director Bill Kimberlin says that he made "American Nitro" in 1979 as a response to Tom Wolfe's influential 1965 essay, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby." "I was just getting out of high school in a small town in Northern California when Wolfe's book came out," he said. "Nitro came about as my response to the car culture I was exposed to in the small valley town of Boonville, Calif. Instead of 'American Graffiti,' I made 'American Nitro.'" A fitting comparison, in fact, considering Kimberlin later worked for George Lucas at ILM, starting with" Return of the Jedi." Now the movie is being released on DVD for the first time -- beware of bootlegs, warns the website -- and digitally remastered, while retaining the explosive charm and goofy narration of the 1979 original.

GM delays second shift at Volt plant

General Motors is delaying the addition of a second shift at its Michigan assembly plant that makes the Chevrolet Volt. In May, GM said that it would add a second shift at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant by late this fall to double Volt production. Instead, a plant overhaul completed this summer, along with a more-modest addition of workers, will allow GM to double production starting early next year while remaining on one shift, the company said Friday.

Alfa MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK Limited Edition arrives

There’s a new limited edition Alfa Romeo MiTo on offer – the MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK – with just 28 cars on sale in the UK at a price of £21,595. Which explains why, when Alfa were scratching their heads to come up with a new Limited Edition MiTo, they settled on the the Superbike link with the Alfa MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK Limited Edition. The MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK has now arrived on UK shores – although there will only be 28 of them – complete with Superbike titivation and a few publicity photos featuring the MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK on two wheels alongside a Superbike.