Instruction Book - Ford - V8 on 2040-parts.com

Akio Toyoda waves family flag, heir makes crisis personal challenge

The reclusive Akio Toyoda is taking the rare step of waving the family flag, as the scion to Toyota Motor Corp.’s founding dynasty tries to steer the world’s largest car company out of a spiraling safety crisis. In testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Toyoda pursues a rare personal tack on the emergency, saying “my name is on every car.” “As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name,” Toyoda says in prepared comments circulated ahead of Wednesday’s committee hearing in Washington. “For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well.” The intimate reflection is a departure for Toyoda, who has spent most of his career sidestepping public discussion of his lineage.

Caterham Cars offers free 40-year anniversary package

Caterham Cars, the U.K.-based maker of lightweight track-day vehicles, will celebrate 40 years building the legendary Seven with a free option package for the open-wheel roadster. The package is available starting today, but only for the first 40 orders of the Seven or its variants. Rights to the Seven were acquired by Graham Nearn from Lotus legend Colin Chapman in 1973.

Burnin' for You: Porsche Cajun gets the green light for production

The Cajun is a go. Porsche will continue to pepper the SUV market with a new entry below the successful Cayenne, and the Cajun is expected to launch in North America in 2013. Porsche's supervisory board instructed the company to develop plans for production in a meeting on Monday.