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

Saab on the road to independence

You’ve got to feel for Scandinavian car makers Saab and Volvo. Both swallowed up by big US car makers, and both now being abandoned in a vulnerable position after years of integrating their once independent products in to their parents infrastructure, they must wake up every day wondering if this is the day it all goes bang. Ford is simply trying (increasingly desperately) to off-load Volvo, but GM, which is in a much more precarious position than Ford, has now abandoned its Swedish child in a desperate attempt to appease Congress and survive.

New Aston Martin DBS WON’T keep the ‘DBS’ badge

The replacement for the Aston Martin DBS (right) will look much like the One-77 (left) at the back The revised Aston Martin DBS – due to arrive later in 2012 – will take many styling cues from the One-77 and get a new name. Aston Martin are busy working on an updated DBS (which is why we’re about to get the DBS Ultimate Edition) and are aiming for a reveal by the Paris Motor Show in September. But this isn’t going to be just a facelift for the DBS.

Are used car prices about to spiral down?

CAP – the used car price specialists – are warning that used car prices, particularly ’almost’ new car prices, are set to tumble as nearly new cars hit the market. The car market in the UK has proved amazingly resilient to the general malaise in the economy, with new car sales continuing to rise strongly and used cars seemingly immune to big depreciation drops. But CAP – who gauge used car prices for the motor trade – are warning that this could be about to change as the impact of recent trading in new cars is about to start impacting on used car prices, particularly prices for cars less than a year old.