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

Volvo P1800 celebrates 50 years

So far, 2011 has been a significant year with the Jaguar E-Type, Aston Martin DB4-GT Zagato and BMW 'Neue Klasse' all celebrating their 50 year anniversaries. The Volvo P1800, which celebrates its half century anniversary this year, is yet another car entering this exclusive club. The svelte Swedish coupe is ‘perhaps Volvo’s most internationally renowned model,’ according to the brand, and it's easy to see why.

Jaguar's stunning E-type defined 'car' for an American generation

You could start with the stunning good looks that make the Jaguar E-Type a permanent fixture at New York's Museum of Modern Art or with the style and character that defined an era. You could start with the technological innovation, the impressive performance or the value that the E-type's contemporaries simply could not match. In cold retrospect, there isn't much in the E-type--or the XKE, as it was widely known on this side of the Atlantic--to tarnish its image.

Listen: Upcoming Ford Focus ST to employ sound symposer

While BMW employs a digitally sanitized/perfected sound file to give M5 owners the proper sense of aggro urgency when motoring at pace, Porsche went a little more organic with its employment of a sound symposer to feed the 911's flat-six growl into the cabin of the extra-refined 991. Essentially, the sound symposer is an electrically controlled diaphragm in a tuned sound tube that brings the proper engine noises into the passenger compartment. It can be opened and closed by the car's onboard electronics to offer snarl when you want it and serenity when you don't.