Minnkota Trolling Motor Weedless Wedge Prop 209-1140 on 2040-parts.com

Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.

Hennessey Venom GT hits new, unofficial, speed record (video)

The Hennessey Venom GT (pictured) hist 270.49mph on a NASA runway Top speed records for production cars is starting to seem pretty irrelevant as there’s almost nowhere an owner can ever hope to hit those record speeds. And the performance of cars like the new McLaren P1 – where  performance and handling are much more the focus than outright top speed – has added the the irrelevance. But that doesn’t stop some car makers aiming for the bragging rights of the world’s fastest production car, and John Hennessey and his Hennessey Venom GT are back with another claim on the title.

Volkswagen Sharan (2010) – Video View

2010 VW Sharan driving footage and beauty shots below. The Geneva Motor Show has provided us with a number of debuts, one of which was the 2010 VW Sharan, Volkswagen’s first proper reworking of its full size people carrier in half a generation. VW started out the launch for the 2010 Sharan with a little visual tease last month, but we get most of the detail with the reveal of the new Sharan at Geneva this week.