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

GM preps for new engines, 8-speed transmission

General Motors is spending $332 million to upgrade powertrain plants in three states to build a new eight-speed automatic transmission, a new V6 and a new family of small-displacement gasoline engines. The plants are in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. GM is also adding $46 million to an earlier $600 million program to upgrade powertrain plants in Saginaw and Romulus, Mich.

Wide-ranging, weird and wonderful John Scotti Collection to cross block in Auburn

The John Scotti Collection is, we'd like to think, exactly the sort of assemblage of cars we would put together were we a mechanic who earned his fortune building a group of successful Montreal-based car dealerships. To be sure, the collection of roughly 450 cars represents Scotti's tastes, which seem to tend toward the muscular. But the man, who sells everything from Mitsubishis to Lamborghinis, did an admirable job branching out from the standbys that seem to fill the ranks of every large collection, finding room for both the commonplace and the strange.

Americans plan to keep their cars longer, AutoPacific study finds

In another chilling sign that auto sales are likely to remain stalled, a new study finds that Americans intend to keep their cars longer, indicating a general concern about the industry and the overall economy. The number of new-car buyers planning to keep their rides more than four years has risen to 59 percent, according to a study released Tuesday by California marketing research firm AutoPacific. That's an increase from last year, when about 45 percent of new buyers intended to wait more than four years for their next purchase, and it's up from 2005's tally of 46 percent.