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

Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

CAR interviews BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk (2009)

By Guy Bird Motor Industry 03 November 2009 09:22 CAR: Chris Bangle once told a great story about sending BMW designers to study with an origami master to gain influence. Judging by the Vision EfficientDynamics concept it looks like you were on that trip? Adrian van Hooydonk: I didn’t go along but in the recent past our designers have experimented with a lot of things – folded metal, folded paper, even plywood – and on this concept car maybe all of that came to fruition.

One Lap of the Web: Forsberg can't stop, won't stop drifting

-- Jann Mardenborough won the "Nissan GT Academy" back in 2011 and since then has finished on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as participating in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver program with aspirations of Formula One. He explains what it's like to move on from video games -- which he started playing at age 7 -- and transitioning into real sports cars. Mardenborough, it must be said, once drove too fast in British GT to be considered an amateur, but not quick enough to enter the pro class -- and race organizers, who didn't know what else to do, gave him a time penalty so the amateurs could catch up.