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

Vauxhall: Ellesmere Port plant saved – 700 new jobs created

Vauxhall Ellesmere Port - Saved General Motors is to keep Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port open, move to three shift working and create 700 new jobs. The overcapacity of mainstream car manufacture in Europe as the market becomes ever more polarised between premium and budget cars – squeezing the middle – means car maker having to rationalise their output. Many thought that could mean the end of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port as GM sought to stem its European losses (around £2 billion in the last three years), especially as it is easier to close plants and lay off workers in the UK than in mainland Europe.

Watch the 2,000-horsepower Banks Freightliner jump five cars

Mike Ryan does amazing things with the Banks Freightliner. And with Pikes Peak still half a year away, Ryan settles for practice in the Long Beach docks in "Size Matters 2." He weaves the semi in and out of boxes, does donuts in the same tight radius as a matte-black 240SX (driven by stuntman Daniel Leavitt, who ironically shares his name with a reckless driving attorney in Virgina), and dodges even larger trucks. (No Dodges, though there's the Freightliner connection.) All the elements of Ken Block's Gymkhana videos are here: the screeching electronic music, the moody industrial setting, the gratuitous slow-motion.

Whos Where: Pierre Authier to become Vice President of Design for Opel/Vauxhall

 Pierre Authier is thought to become Vice President of Design for Opel/Vauxhall, leaving his current role as Peugeot Design Director, according to a source from within the PSA design department. The position has been up for grabs since the shock dismissal of Dave Lyon just days before he took up the position in Rüsselsheim, Germany last month. Authier has been at Peugeot since the start of his career in 1998, first working on the 307 model and most recently responsible for the well-received 208 supermini.