Ricks Motorsport Electric Rectifier/regulator 10-133 on 2040-parts.com

Inside Bob Pond's car collection

Robert Pond was an industrialist, an aviator, a Navy pilot, an aircraft designer, a genuine car enthusiast, a philanthropist, a Minnesotan at heart and a man who turned a family business from eight employees to a global $100-million concern. Pond was born in 1924 in Edina, Minn., 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis. He signed up for the Navy Air Corps in 1942, and survived three years of training on J-3 Piper Cubs and PBY Catalinas to graduate in July of 1945 -- just three months before Japan surrendered to the US.

Autonomous emergency braking mandatory in Europe by 2014

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is set to become mandatory as a result of new European regulations. From 2014 Euro NCAP – the organization responsible for conducting independent assessment of vehicle safety performance – will amend its reports and no car will gain a five-star rating without AEB. It's hoped an increased use of the system will cut down on front-end impacts as well as pedestrian injuries.

Volkswagen to buy Italdesign-Giugiaro

Italdesign-Giugiaro S.p.A could soon become another group under the Volkswagen AG umbrella, according to Automotive News Europe. The industry publication cites two sources that claim the German company is set to buy a controlling stake in Italy's largest design and engineering firm, a deal which could be clinched as early as next week. Founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani in 1968, Italdesign-Giugiaro currently has 975 employees and 800 CAD workstations.