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

Mitsubishi PX-MiEV Concept at Tokyo

The Mitsubishi PX-MiEV Concept - a hybrid crossover The ‘PX’ bit of the name is Mitsubishi’s code for Plug-in Hybrid Crossover (saves a bit of room on the boot lid), so the PX-MiEV gets a 1.6 litre 4-pot to drive the front wheels together with an electric motor. An additional electric motor is used to power the rear wheels when circumstances dictate. The PX-MiEV can also run for up to 30 miles in EV mode, after which it turns in to a hybrid to drive and recharge the batteries.

Video: Exploring the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class

To coincide with the announcement that its new C-Class has entered production, Mercedes-Benz has released a video exploring its design. Featuring design chief Gordon Wagener and other key members of the team, the video explains where their inspiration came from and how they experimented with proportions during its development. While the dropping bodyside feature line is a key element of the exterior, it's also found inside the C-Class, where the typical Mercedes sports car interior is combined with the floating, vertical center console.

'American Nitro' is back!

"Seventies drag-race mayhem is back!" bills "American Nitro," a schlocky drive-in exploitation film whose only quote of praise, from a dog-eared period issue of "Car Craft," reads, simply, "SPECTACULAR CRASHES!" Director Bill Kimberlin says that he made "American Nitro" in 1979 as a response to Tom Wolfe's influential 1965 essay, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby." "I was just getting out of high school in a small town in Northern California when Wolfe's book came out," he said. "Nitro came about as my response to the car culture I was exposed to in the small valley town of Boonville, Calif. Instead of 'American Graffiti,' I made 'American Nitro.'" A fitting comparison, in fact, considering Kimberlin later worked for George Lucas at ILM, starting with" Return of the Jedi." Now the movie is being released on DVD for the first time -- beware of bootlegs, warns the website -- and digitally remastered, while retaining the explosive charm and goofy narration of the 1979 original.