Tailgate Cable (dorman# 38559) on 2040-parts.com

First Fiat 500s will have stick shifts

The 2012 Fiat 500 , heading to U.S. dealerships later than first expected, is enduring another hiccup: The first units arriving in dealerships in late February will have manual transmissions, the company said. Moreover, only about 20 percent of the 130 Fiat dealerships will be open when those first cars arrive, said Laura Soave, head of the Fiat brand in North America, at the Detroit auto show last week.

McLaren 12C Can-Am goes in to production

The track only McLaren 12C – the 12C Can-Am – was revealed as a one-off at Pebble Beach but is now going in to limited production. The 12C Can-Am is aimed at the lucrative track day market in the States, and without the constraints of any production series McLaren has been able to play as they wish. That means the 12C Can-Am – developed by the McLaren GT Team which developed the 12C GT3 Race car – gets a new aerodynamic package that improves downforce by 30 per cent, including a carbon fibre splitter with winglets, a carbon fibre diffuser and huge rear spoiler.

Chrysler is crushing 93 pre-production Dodge Vipers

Chrysler has ordered 93 first-generation Dodge Vipers to be crushed, including what is believed to be the fourth Viper ever made. A Chrysler representative sent a letter to South Puget Sound Community College, which currently owns the Viper with VIN# 4, informing them that they must crush the car within two weeks. Automakers regularly donate unsellable non-street legal vehicles to automotive-engineering programs at colleges and universities, reserving the right to order the vehicles destroyed for insurance purposes.