Screw (dorman #423-670) on 2040-parts.com

Mini offers new engines for 2010 spruce-up

Mini is replacing the current 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines in spring 2010 – with a single more powerful and efficient Valvetronic 1.6. The new engine will power all the entry-level First and One models instead of the current 1.4. The new and improved 1.6 will also replace the existing engine found in the Cooper and Cooper S models.

A tribute to Ermanno Cressoni

Last week the car design community suffered a great loss. Ermanno Cressoni or 'Arch' as many of his designers affectionately referred to him, passed away on Thursday 30th June in Milan after battling with cancer for 13 months.'Arch' was a reference in car design and his contribution to our profession was much more important than stated in the press. As Alfa Romeo Centro Stile Director he directed the Alfetta berlina, the famous chrome GTV grille from the early seventies is attributed to him, as is the Giuglietta sedan of the late seventies, the Alfa 33, the 75, and many of the racing Alfas we adore from the late 60s and early 70s.

MG Design Centre opens in UK

The opening of MG's new design center this week at the historic production site of Longbridge, Birmingham, England was both an incredible and credible occasion. Incredible, because the brand looked dead in the water after the debacle of MG Rover's collapse in 2005 and even after various Chinese takeovers, its UK operation seemed destined to play no more than a tokenistic bit part. And thankfully credible too, because now all of MG's global design will genuinely be led from this new facility in the epicentre of England's traditional motoring heartland.