Wichard Opening Luff Rope Prefeeder on 2040-parts.com

Ford future products: New vehicles get lighter, faster and move upscale

Ford Motor Co.'s future-product focus is on improved fuel economy by making its vehicles smaller and engines lighter without sacrificing performance, safety or luxury. It also wants to push the Ford brand more upscale to capture customers orphaned by the shutdown of the Mercury brand, and to attract new buyers with more product offerings. Ford has said 90 percent of its North American nameplates will be available with direct-injection turbocharged EcoBoost engines as standard equipment or as an option by 2013.

2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage range gets an overhaul

The 2012 Aston Martin Vantage gets a tweak The Aston Martin V8 Vantage range gets an engineering and cosmetic facelift for 2012. Starts at £84,995. It’s all but impossible for Aston Martin to come up with a new mainstream model, so all they can do is nip, tuck and tweak their existing cars in the hope that the market continues to smile favourably on their offerings.

Saleen announces new electric supercar

Californian tuner and sometimes supercar-builder Saleen has confirmed it is working on an all-new electric car, with plans to debut the new model in 2015. Perhaps best known for the 248mph Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, which went out of production in 2009, the firm specialises in providing performance upgrades for modern American muscle cars, including the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. On Bing: see pictures of the Saleen S7 Find out how much used muscle car costs on Auto Trader However, Saleen is keen to get into the bespoke supercar game again, and is claiming in a newly released statement that its forthcoming electric vehicle will be ‘unlike anything currently in the market place.’ Exactly what this would entail is unclear at this stage, but the Saleen is saying ‘Throw out your pre-conceived notions and expectations.