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

BMW ready to shift small coupes, convertibles to even-number nameplates

Reports in Europe say that BMW is planning a shake-up in the naming strategy for its smaller coupes and convertibles, as well as planning to shift its 1-series cars onto a front-drive platform. The nameplate shake-up will have coupe and convertible variants of the 1-series become the 2-series, while coupe and convertible variants of the 3-series will become the 4-series. The changeover is expected to start in 2013, according to a report on the Web site of Car magazine.

Up in smoke: Smokey Yunick's garage burns

Legendary NASCAR mechanic Smokey Yunick closed the "Best Damn Garage In Town" long before he died in 2001. But the main concrete-block, tin-roofed building on Beach Street in Daytona Beach, Fla., remained a stop on the NASCAR history trail for visiting faithful until Monday night, when fire destroyed the building. The building housed Yunick's office and a medium-size garage and more recently served as office space for Carbon Press, the publishing company that Yunick's daughter, Trish, operates and which produces products that include Yunick's salty 1,100-page autobiography and biographies of other racing personalities.

Next Mustang to feature global design input, Ford says

Ford Motor Co.'s design studios worldwide will provide styling ideas for an American icon: the next generation Mustang. "It is a common process we [now] use on every vehicle," Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president for global product development, said Tuesday at the Geneva auto show. Ford's next-generation pony car will be the first Mustang with styling themes proposed by studios in Europe, Australia and other regions.