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

Fiat Panda Cross comes to the UK

By Tom Richards Motor Industry 11 August 2008 13:04 Finally Fiat is launching the Panda Cross in the UK. It's essentially a plastic addenda-clad version of the existing Panda 4x4, but the Cross has so far only been available in mainland Europe. Like the exisiting Panda 4x4 it features a permanent four-wheel drive system and an electronic differential lock, so should you choose to take the fields home, traction won’t be a problem. But the Panda Cross also gets new round front and rear lights, chunky side sills in contrasting colours to the body, new bumpers, 15-inch alloys and a two-tone interior.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Saab: China’s Youngman submits new $2 billion offer

Youngman is committed to acquiring Saab The founder of China’s Youngman - Pang Qingnian – has revealed Youngman submitted a $2 billion offer to buy Saab from the administrators on 14th February. We’ve all seemingly written-off Saab as dead and buried; a once proud marque consigned to the scrap heap of history after the debacle of GM ownership and Victor Muller’s ill-fated battle to make Saab an in dependent marque. But there’s one man who hasn’t given up hope of securing a future for Saab, and that man is the Chinese billionaire founder of Youngman, the company which has already spent significant sums trying to acquire Saab, but has so far been thwarted by GM’s golden bullet.