Standard Brake Rotor on 2040-parts.com

Insurance group lists its Top Safety Picks

After increasing its standards for 2011 models, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that 66 vehicles--more than double the 2010 total--rate as best in the industry at protecting passengers from front, side, rollover and rear crashes. Only 27 vehicles qualified last year after the group, funded by the insurance industry, required that vehicles pass a roof-strength test to earn a good rating, claiming that stronger roofs would reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury by 50 percent in a rollover accident. The most mentioned carmakers on the 2011 list are Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi, both with nine vehicles to get the Top Safety Pick designation.

Alfa to be honored at Pebble

The 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance will pay tribute to all that is Alfa Romeo, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the Italian auto manufacturer founded as Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. The Aug. 15 gathering will make Alfa fans drool, showcasing vehicles ranging from a 1910 A.L.F.A.

Mercury gets a small car in 2011

Ford Motor Co. executives confirmed that Mercury will get a new car on the same platform as the Ford Focus. Ford executives told dealers Sunday at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, Fla., that the small Mercury is coming in 2011, the same year the Focus arrives.