Omc Cobra Outdrive 5.0,5.7 Upper Unit on 2040-parts.com

Good news for British car factories

NEW FIGURES have revealed that UK-based car production raced ahead in April, resulting in the biggest monthly rise since July 2012. A total of 133,437 cars were made in the UK last month – a 21.3% increase on the April 2013 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The excellent April figures took the year-so-far total to 538,240 – a 6.9% rise on the figure for January-April 2013.

BMW: Carbon fiber goes high volume in 2013

BMW AG plans to begin high-volume production of carbon fiber parts in two years, making it a strong contender to be the first automaker to move beyond limited-edition use of the exotic material. But Daimler AG, which has taken steps aimed at making carbon fiber parts in 2012, is among the automakers racing toward the same goal. In 2013, BMW will start building the i3 electric car, a vehicle that features a passenger cell--the protective shell around the passenger compartment that ensures the integrity of the vehicle in a crash--made of plastic reinforced with carbon fiber.

Rare foreign cars head to Carlisle this weekend

Every spring, Carlisle, Pa., (otherwise known as the Woodstock of the classic-car hobby, a title it now fully shares with Hershey) hosts a weekend event just for foreign cars. Last year, over 1,000 cars gathered in central Pennsylvania, with rare foreign machinery making its way from all over the lower 50 and parts of Canada. The longest-traveled cars we spotted last year wore British Columbia plates, which should give you a clue as to the event's following, though we're still unsure which cars we spent the longest time gawking at.