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

Lotus appoints Swizz Beatz as Vice President of Creative Design and Global Marketing

We've become accustomed to surprising and – at times – bizarre news stories emerging from Lotus since Danny Behar became CEO. But judging from reaction in the world of social media this afternoon, even by Lotus's recent standards, the news that it has appointed American rapper Swizz Beatz as its vice president of Creative Design and Global Marketing, came as something of a surprise. Kasseem Daoud Dean, otherwise known as Swizz Beatz, has a broad creative background, having a portfolio that includes music producer, rapper, designer and painter.

Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon Edition – costs £200,000

The Aston Martin Vanquish Carbon Edition in Carbon White It’s only a month since the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish (and Vanquish Volante) were revealed with a series of updates that manage to turn the Vanquish in to a much more appealing car. That new appeal is mainly down to AML finally ditching their ancient six-speed auto ‘box and replacing it with a new 8-Speed ZF ‘box – which cleverly sits inside the old housing – increasing performance, drivability and economy in one fell swoop. The Vanquish now gets to 62mph in a very respectable 3.8 seconds and can top 200mph, despite which official economy improves to 31mpg (more like 16mpg in the real world).

German Parts Pillagers Roam the American Southwest, Sending Treasures Home For Future Car Museum

Quite a few older European cars are purchased in rust-free parts of the United States and then shipped back to the home continent, and this process tends to intensify when the Euro gets stronger versus the dollar. While that's going on, crews of European gearheads also roam the wrecking yards of the Southwest, filling shipping containers with parts to ship back home; I know of a trio of Swedes who come to Colorado every year and ship home tons of parts, but they've got nothing on this pair of Germans. These gentlemen fly to the United States four times each year, spending two or three weeks each trip, and send home cars and shipping containers packed with parts, all as part of a scheme to open up a car collection showcasing "cars from the road." They were kind enough to send me a bunch of photos of their most recent trip, so let's see what their enviable lifestyle looks like.