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

Bungling thief caught after stealing hire car's steering wheel

A DIM-WITTED criminal has been convicted of theft after stealing parts of a brand new Audi A3 hire car and replacing them with old bits taken from his much older Audi S3. Alexander Keating, a 23-year-old former bodyshop technician who lost his job following the conviction, stole parts as obvious as the steering wheel and gear knob from the A3 that his mum had hired after damaging her car in an accident. Keating foolishly believed no one would notice the battered old steering wheel on the otherwise shiny, new car, but sure enough the mismatched parts were spotted and the hapless bungler was caught by the car hire firm’s bespoke anti-fraud team Asset Protection Unit (APU).

Ferrari-designed Santa's sleigh (2010)

Ferrari is used to building high-speed sports cars, but now it's undertaken a far more difficult design study: building the Ferrari sleigh for Father Christmas. Penned by the design team in Maranello led by Flavio Manzoni, the Ferrari supercar sleigh is said to use many of the design principles which underpin its roadgoing supercars such as the 458 Italia and California. It’s a lightweight sledge with the iconic Prancing Horse depicted on its flanks and racing numerals on the door panels.

Startech unveils tuned Range Rover Sport

German tuner Startech has just unveiled their tuning program for the 2014 Range Rover Sport and picked the 2013 Essen Motor Show -- Europe's equivalent of SEMA -- as the debut venue. Startech has been in the Land Rover and Jaguar tuning business for over a decade, though their products are not that well known this side of the Atlantic. But the growing variety and popularity of Range Rover vehicles on this side of the pond just might change that.