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

2014 Nissan NV Passenger Van: Here's what it costs

Nissan has just announced pricing for the 2014 NV Cargo Van and NV Passenger Van, which are available at more than 350 Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers. That's right: In case you haven't noticed, there's a passenger-van version of the NV commercial vans with room for 12 people. So it turns out the Nissan Cube isn't the most boxy passenger offering from the automaker after all.

Local Motors 'Design Our Car' competition opens

Local Motors has opened its first-ever ‘Design Our Car' competition, which encourages collaboration within the manufacturing community. The open-source automaker is providing two of its Rally Fighter cars, one of which will be built at the company's micro-factory in Arizona while the other will be built live in the Emerging Technology Center at September's International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. Ideas from the design and engineering community are being sought to help design and select a skin for the Rally Fighter that will be built by the Local Motors team this spring.

End of Maybach may jump-start Mercedes S-class convertible

A couple of nondenial denials from Mercedes-Benz execs at the New York auto show this week sure made it sound like there's a convertible coming, based on the redesigned S-class due out next year. If the brand follows its usual practice, the convertible would come out a year or two after the sedan. Significantly, Mercedes-Benz showed the Ocean Drive convertible concept five years ago with a Mercedes-Benz badge, rather than Maybach.