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

Nissan NV3500 passenger van promises quiet and safety

Early this year Nissan introduced a full-sized commercial panel van that's offered in two flavors -- standard and tall; as in, you can walk around the interior. So it was just a matter of time until Nissan targeted the hotel shuttle and church bus crowd with a windowed passenger model using that platform. First impression is that Nissan's windowed van is a very credible competitor for a segment that has been dominated by the Ford E-series and the Chevrolet Express, and to a lesser degree by the GMC Savana and Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner Sprinter.

Alfa Romeo has no plans to export the Giulietta to North America

Alfisti, control yourselves: There are no plans right now to bring the sultry Alfa Romeo Giulietta to North America. In the wake of numerous sometimes conflicting reports circulating about the hot hat hatch's future, we wanted a straight answer from Torino. This is what we got: “There are no plans at present to export the Alfa Romeo Giulietta to the North American market,” Richard Gadeselli, vice president of communications for Fiat Group Automobiles SpA, wrote in an e-mail to AutoWeek.

MINI celebrates 100 years of car production in Oxford

MINI will be celebrating a century of car production in Oxford on 28th March 2013, 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford was produced. It’s 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford rolled out on 28th March 1903, since when 11,655,000 cars have been built – with as many as 28,000 people employed in its heyday – and even Tiger Moth planes and Iron Lungs built alongside 80,000 repairs to Spitfires and Hurricanes during WWII. What is now MINI’s Plant Oxford was founded by William Morris – and Morris Motors kept control until 1952 – and has been owned and run by BMC, then British Motor Holdings (when Jaguar arrived), British Leyland (when Leyland Trucks, Triumph and Rover joined), nationalisation in the 1970s saw a variety of names, Rover Group arrived in 1986 and was subsequently privatised and sold in 1994 to BMW.