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

Opel Flexstreme concept

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 11 September 2007 03:13 Opel Flextreme: the lowdown Vauxhall’s European sister brand Opel showed off its surprise at Frankfurt today – the new Flextreme concept car. Under that voluminous monocab body lies GM’s E-Flex plug-in hybrid system. It’s the latest trend in hybrids, allowing up to 30 miles of zero-emissions electric operation, after which the diesel engine kicks in to recharge the battery.

The Porsche P1 is lighter, greener and more exclusive than McLaren's new hypercar

Long before the legendary Porsche 911 -- before, even, the Porsche 356 -- Ferdinand Porsche was tinkering with alternative powertrains and designing road-worthy vehicles. Though it wasn't the first vehicle to bear his name, the “Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model” was the earliest result of his efforts. Perhaps getting the jump on the modern alpha-numeric craze/plague, it was shortened to a simple “P1.” The P1 (we'll refer to it as the Porsche P1 from here on out to avoid confusion) made its first appearance in Vienna on June 26, 1898, and it didn't last long in the public eye: Before Porsche decided to pull it out and put it on display, it had reportedly been sitting in a warehouse, untouched, since 1902.

U.S. equity firm to invest $70 million in Saab

Race-car fan and private-equity executive Alex Mascioli is pumping $70 million into Saab as the Swedish automaker works to stay afloat. Mascioli's firm, North Street Capitol, is buying $10 million in shares of Swedish Automobile, which owns Saab, and is also giving the company a $60 million loan to pay for the carmaker's reorganization. U.S.-based North Street Capital struck a deal in September to buy the Spyker sports-car business from Swedish Automobile for $44 million.