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

Automakers rack up solid gains to finish 2010

Fueled by holiday and year-end discounts, as well as the introduction of new models, automakers finished 2010 on a high note by posting the year's best monthly sales in December. U.S. light vehicle demand climbed 11 percent last month to 1.1 million units--the best month of the year on a unit basis.

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.

Hot European sales delay U.S. launch of the BMW X1 possibly until 2012

BMW won't launch the X1 small crossover in the United States before late this year, and the vehicle may not arrive until 2012 because of hot demand in Europe. "We are supply constrained," said Jim O'Donnell, CEO of BMW of North America. "As long as they keep selling them, I do not know when we are going to get it." The decision to delay U.S.