Centric Parts 400.34001 Front Hub Assembly on 2040-parts.com

Ford Cortina: 50 years ago today…

Ford are celebrating 50 years since the first Ford Cortina was launched and changed the car landscape forever. The Ford Cortina went on to sell an impressive 4.3 million during its twenty year life, eventually turning in to the Ford Sierra and then in to the Ford family car of today – the 2013 Ford Mondeo (which, interestingly, can be had with the 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine – smaller even than the 1200cc of that first Cortina). That first Cortina was the start of Ford’s dominance of the UK car market, leading to an unbroken run of 35 years as the best selling car brand with most of the Cortinas, almost 3 million of them, built at Dagenham – in the days Ford actually built cars here.

Diesel fumes linked to illnesses

DIESEL exhaust fumes have been linked to a range of illnesses and long term health conditions from heart disease to diabetes. The fumes are a complex mixture of gases and fine particles containing contaminants including microscopic particles less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream. Over a long period of the time, exposure to the fumes can raise the risk of potentially deadly blood clots and increase the risk of stroke by narrowing the arteries that carry blood to the brain.

Ken Okuyama Design heads to Tokyo with new road racer [w/video]

Ken Okuyama Design is heading to the Tokyo motor show with what promises to be a real treat of a two-seat sports car. The Kode9 coupé, as teased in a behind-the-scenes video, follows on from the Kode7 first shown in 2008 and, if the video is any indication, this voluminous, 1960s-inspired creation will continue that car's attention to delightful detail. And who doesn't love a car with a vertical tail fin?