Original Vespa Fuel Petcock 1970's With Locking Nut. Piaggio on 2040-parts.com

Opel Astra OPC Extreme debuts before Geneva

The Geneva motor show starts next week, which means we get to see an awesome selection of cars that will never come to our shores. On Wednesday, Opel added the Astra OPC Extreme to that category, which now includes the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, Volkswagen Polo and Aston Martin Vantage N430, among others. The Astra OPC Extreme is 220 pounds lighter than the already-hot OPC, thanks to the use of carbon fiber.

Chrysler and Lancia brands to share products in Europe

Fiat S.p.A. aims to integrate the Chrysler brand more closely with the Italian automaker's upscale Lancia marque in Europe with the two brands likely to share products from small hatchbacks to large sedans. The appointment of Lancia CEO Olivier Francois as Chrysler brand boss is a step toward the goal, a Fiat source said.

Ellesmere Port's bid to build Ampera hits snags

By Rob Golding Motor Industry 09 October 2009 15:02 Prime minister Gordon Brown’s personal crusade to get Vauxhall's version of the Chevrolet Volt petrol-electric plug-in hybrid – the Ampera – built in Britain's Ellesmere Port factory in 2012 is a dream delayed, CAR can disclose today.News that the UK Astra plant is the best in Europe, that the Astra's Delta platform will underpin the Ampera, and that Volt will be on US sale from 2010 had been taken to mean that Vauxhall would be churning out the cars in the north west within three years.But the prospect of an electric car industry growing up around the run-down Merseyside manufacturing site is not imminent, CAR has learned.'No Ampera to be built in Europe before 2015'Vauxhall insiders have made it clear that the car to be known as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera in Europe will be an import from the US for at least five years. One senior planner told us: 'The US will be the sole source of Amperas until at least 2015.'Bob Lutz, GM's former product supremo who recently came out of retirement as a PR, said that the low value of the dollar made the US an ideal site for the manufacturing of export cars. And with forecast sticker prices of the range-extender electric car standing at a scary £35,000+, every price saving is vital to its marketability.The European market also needs time to get its electricity recharge infrastructure in place before it is worth making cars onshore in volume, GM high-ups point out.