National 5274 Seal, Crankshaft-engine Crankshaft Seal on 2040-parts.com

Bankruptcy will delay Chrysler's 2010 model launches, exec says

Chrysler LLC will be late getting its 2010 vehicles to market because of the automaker's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Chrysler manufacturing chief Frank Ewasyshyn testified today. The current shutdown of plants and stresses on suppliers also threaten to delay the 2011 models next year, Ewasyshyn said. The changeover to 2010 models is delayed while Chrysler tries to emerge from bankruptcy within the next 30 to 60 days, he said.

Bob Bondurant at 80

Last fall, as we waited for our turn to partake in a braking drill at Bob Bondurant's driving school in Arizona, a black Cadillac CTS-V coupe came screaming out of the facility's parking area and onto the tarmac where we sat. The driver hustled the big two-door around a tight autocross course at a startling pace, though he likely would have been faster had he avoided some of the smoky, sideways stuff. Our instructor, Johnny O'Connell, grinned, “I guess it's good to be the boss.” Bondurant -- who turns 80 on Saturday -- started racing an Indian motorcycle as a teenager.

A heavy key chain may deactivate the airbags in your Chevy Cobalt or Pontiac G5

GM is recalling 788,000 Cobalt and Pontiac G5 sedans for a potentially deadly problem with the ignition system. When the vehicles' keys are connected to heavy key chains (or, say, key rings laden with a dozen extra keys), a sufficiently extreme jolt or impact could shift the ignition out of the "run" position and into the "off" position. Cuts electrical power to the vehicles' systems, in turn deactivating the airbags.