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

Video: Fiat creates café racer 500 for SEMA

Fiat is preparing a café racer-style 500 for this week's SEMA show by stripping down an Abarth version to take it "down to the essence of what you need to drive a car." The café racer philosophy of ‘more speed, less comfort' was born around the 1960s British 'biker scene and while initially focussed on increasing performance, quickly developed into a culture as concered with 'the show' as 'the go'. "It takes something like this to really get noticed at SEMA," says Craig Buoncompago, Project Manager at Fiat Product Design. "The Café Racer is really going to be one special car that you guys should really come and see." The 500's roof has been chopped, while also shorn of its door handles and being fitted with hot rod billet rims.

Ford to launch 25 new models in Europe in next 5 years

The new Ford S-mAx (pictured) is just one of 25 new Fords heading for Europe Ford of Europe has had a miserable time of late, with the European market in disarray as the Eurozone crisis continues to rumble and car buyers on the continent shy away from big ticket purchases. But, just as they did in the US, Ford are making plans to cash-in when the Eurozone economy improves in the coming years (not that that’s an absolute given) and are going to ready with a raft of new models to tempt mainstream buyers when economies start to grow and car finance becomes a realistic option for more once again. Barb Samardzich, Ford’s head of product development in Europe, says Ford are planning to make their portfolio of products the best ever in anticipation of a recovery, with a huge 25 new models launching over the next five years, and they will be additions to the Ford line-up or new generations, not variants.

Kia Niro concept (2013) first official pictures

Kia’s radical new concept car is the Niro crossover, complete with butterfly doors, two-tone tyres and a Blake 7 cockpit in the best show car tradition. Look past the design flourishes, though, and you’ll see this is a statement of intent for Kia’s next niche car: a supermini-sized crossover to fight the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, and Vauxhall Mokka. Kia Niro: what’s in a name?