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

Jaguar: from granddad's XJ to my XJS

A love of Jaguars from childhood is a common theme among the Jaguarati and I am no different. My grandfather owned Jaguars for 50 years, each one bought from new and a treasured possession. I was incredibly impressed by these beautiful beasts, where only the crunch of gravel heralded his arrival, nothing as common as an engine note.

Kubrick's Jaguar memories: XJ12s and more

Once upon a time there was a small boy, about seven years old, who had taken an interest in cars at a rather early stage, mainly thanks to his old man, who was (and, thankfully, still is) a car enthusiast and, back in those days, a staunch supporter of a certain Southern German marque. This naturally meant that the small boy would sometimes be a bit annoyed by his father's occasionally overbearing passion, but at the same time usually knit his eyebrows himself whenever he came across something sporting four wheels but no blue & white propeller (which, he believed, was the way things were supposed to be). So the foundations had been laid to turn this very young chap into a proper petrolhead one day, but his interest remained relatively casual and moderate until that one fateful evening.

Aston Martin Cygnet planned for 2011 production

Aston Martin said on Monday that the Cygnet--a reworked version of the Toyota iQ city car--will go into production in 2011. The Cygnet, which was shown as a concept car at the Geneva motor show in March, is just less than 10 feet long. "Our customers need a small car for urban and city use and they want the right tools for the right job, to downsize creatively without compromising intelligence, artistry and personality," said Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez.