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

Lotus gets Ferrari Designer

Ferrari Designer Donato Coco joins Lotus as Director of Design As we’ve reported umpteen times this year, Lotus are getting things very right. They’re selling the new Lotus Evora hand over fist and have plans in place to a convertible Evora and of course the new Lotus Esprit. Part of the long-term plan at Lotus is to bring the Hethel boys back to the top of the heap in the way Lotus were in the glory days of Colin Chapman.

Honda cutting production in Swindon again – 500 jobs at risk

Honda is cutting another 500 jobs in Swindon It’s only a year since Honda announced 800 job cuts at Swindon (which eventually was 550) and now they’re about to cut a further 500 as weak demand – particularly in Europe – sees the Swindon plant producing just half the cars it could. The plan is to cut shifts from 3 to 2 a day, which will result in the loss of 340 permanent jobs and 160 temporary ones, and production will be centred on just one production line to increase efficiency and flexibility. The Swindon Plant – which builds the Civic, Civic Tourer, CR-V and Jazz (and the Civic Type-R from next year) – has been hard hit by the slump in European sales in the last five years and, despite still strong UK sales, production levels of 120,000 cars a year – just half of the Swindon capacity – are not enough to sustain the current staffing levels.

Volvo XC70 Surf Rescue

By Phil McNamara Motor Shows 30 October 2007 01:38 The lowdown: XC70 Surf Rescue Volvo is adding a touch of Baywatch glamour to the XC70, with this Surf Rescue concept car. The jacked up, yellow and red rescue vehicle was unveiled at the world's biggest aftermarket show – SEMA in Las Vegas – which starts today (Tuesday 30 October). CAR is reporting live from the show, which establishes key automotive design trends.