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

BMW makes 1,000 workers permanent

AROUND 1,000 agency workers at car giant BMW are to be made permanent employees, guaranteeing job security for years. The change, being made in two phases, was warmly welcomed by the Unite union, describing it as a great Christmas present. The announcement covers workers across a number of BMW sites including the Mini plant in Oxford, pressings plant in Swindon and Hams Hall engine site near Birmingham.

College Exhibition: RCA/GM - Fast Forward 2049

First year students at the Royal College of Art recently held an exhibition at the London Transport Museum commemorating the 40th anniversary of the school's vehicle design course. Sponsored by GM's Opel/Vauxhall division, 19 students responded to a brief that called for them to ‘Fast Forward into the Future'. Divided into three groups - Inside Out, Urban Flow and Automark - the students devised their own notions of vehicles for the year 2049, and in some cases entirely reinvented Opel brand values and aesthetics.

Exhibition: BMW Art Drive London

Entering the seventh floor of a London car park to find three spaces occupied by BMWs is an inconsequential occurrence given the proliferation of Bavarian-born cars in the UK Capital. Except, that is, when the three in question have been touched by the hands (and brushes) of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschernberg. As part of the London 2012 Festival and in partnership with the ICA, BMW has taken over a grimy multi-storey in London's hipster Shoreditch district, filling it with 16 works from its iconic, priceless Art Car collection.