73571a2 Mercruiser 2.5 3.0 Front Engine Mount Bracket on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Mar 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Ben Pulman and Tim Pollard Motor Industry 31 March 2009 13:48 Tuesday 31 March 2009• Porsche said that its earnings before tax rose to €7.3 billion in the six months to the end of January – including a €6.8bn windfall from its VW share options (Financial Times)• Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, will step up to replace Rick Wagoner, who was ousted on Sunday as CEO of General Motors (Financial Times)• President Obama is essentially CEO-in-chief of GM – despite not owning a single cent of stock, says Detroit News commentator (Detroit News)• German chancellor Angela Merkel gives assurances that any would-be investors in GM's European arm will be given state support. Opel is asking for €3.3 billion in aid – and up to 25,000 jobs in Germany depend on it, with up to 300,000 jobs across Europe including Saab and Vauxhall (BBC News)Monday 30 March 2009• General Motors' chief executive Rick Wagoner has been ordered to resign by US president Barack Obama with immediate effect. It's part of Obama's administration's critique of GM and Chrysler's turnaround plans – he's understood to be unhappy with the plans submitted (BBC News)• New GM non-executive chairman Kent Kresa has admitted that at the company's next general meeting it will have 'a majority of new directors' (General Motors)• Chrysler will receive US government aid for the next 30 days, but the Obama administration has said that if the company cannot secure a tie-up with the Fiat Group within that time period it will not receive any more money from the taxpayers and could go into liquidation.

The Leko – a new car from IKEA? – Not a chance!

A new site claims IKEA is about to launch a car - on the 1st April! [ad#ad-1] The latest silly site to go (semi) viral online this week purports to be teasing a new car from IKEA, that hell of  a flat-pack, windowless, clockless shopping experience where the only instructions you get for assembling your insane purchase are a set of pictures on a big sheet of paper, that seemingly have no resemblance to the contents of the package you’ve been stupefied in to buying. Now on the face of it this is perhaps plausible.

2011 Mille Miglia: Postcards from Dutch

Pictures tell a thousand words, and we're going to let this one do most of the talking. Our own Dutch Mandel is on the road in the Italian countryside, and he snapped this gorgeous shot from one of the chase vehicles during the event. Want more?