1971 Chevy 350 Motor Intake Manifold on 2040-parts.com

Brian Wilson to perform at Petersen fundraiser

The annual Petersen Automotive Museum's fundraising event on May 7 promises to be fun, fun, fun when Beach Boy Brian Wilson and his band take the stage. The rock-'n'-roll icon is scheduled to play for an hour as part of the museum's largest charity event of the year, proceeds from which benefit the 501(c)(3) institution. The Beach Boys had a lot of car-themed hits, including "409," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." (AutoWeek trivia: The Deuce Coupe featured on the cover of the album of the same name belonged to Clarence "Chili" Catallo, whose son, the successful and powerful advertising executive Curt Catallo, once was a lowly editorial assistant at AutoWeek).

New car sales in UK still growing – up 14.8% April 2013. Driven by PPI Claims?

It is quite hard to fathom just how UK new car sales (well, registrations) continue to rise inexorably against a backdrop of otherwise stagnant economic activity, but they do. April 2013 has seen a total of 163,357 new car registrations, up a huge 14.8 per cent on April 2012 and the best figure since 2008, and these sales figures are not being driven by fleet buyers but by private motorists – private sector registrations grew by 32.3 per cent in April and are up by 15.2 per cent year to date. Not surprisingly, it’s the Superminis that are performing strongly – although all sectors are showing a rise – and it’s the Ford Fiesta that continues to be the best seller in the UK with sales of over 8,000 in April and over 42,000 so far in 2013, and the rise of superminis has also seen an increase in sales of petrol-engined cars thanks to the wave of small capacity, frugal petrol options.

Aston Martin Lagonda Concept unveiled at Geneva motor show 2009

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 04 March 2009 06:57 Aston Martin shocked the Geneva motor show today when it unveiled the Lagonda Concept, a V12-engined SUV that’s designed to spearhead the expansion of the company into over 100 countries. And it's the first fruits of a new collaboration between Aston and Mercedes-Benz, which will provide the 4x4 hardware and engine tech - from the Merc GL SUV. Yes, or if you believe Aston Martin boss Dr Ulrich Bez, ‘the avantgarde luxury car of the future.’ The Lagonda Concept is based on the four-wheel drive chassis of the Mercedes GL (a fruition of the Aston Martin-Mercedes tie up first revealed by our very own Georg Kacher), so it’s four-wheel drive, but unlike like its donor car, the Lagonda version seats just four and features a V12 engine up front.