Earl's 900334erl Fitting Hose Clamp -34 An Econ-o-fit Aluminum Chrome Each on 2040-parts.com

Kia opens new Design Center America

Kia Motors has opened its new Design Center America, located adjacent to the new US corporate headquarters in Irvine, California, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The opening ceremony of the new US 21.8-acre Kia Corporate campus was held on June 24 and was presided by Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of Kia Motors America and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia. He was joined at the ceremony by both local and state representatives, as well as members of the media and guests.

Lexus IS Design contest winner to be built for SEMA 2013

Somewhere in the shortlist of 25 semi-finalists from the Lexus IS Design contest lurks the design that will be built by tuner VIP Auto Salon and take pride of place on Lexus' stand at SEMA later this year. Hosted by online art community deviantART, the competition asked entrants to customize a Lexus IS saloon using any method they liked. The winner will also be given a one-year lease of the IS and other prizes.

Mercedes B55 (2011) - a ballistic V8 B-class

Mercedes' tuning arm AMG has not yet ventured into sensible B-class territory, but a bunch of Merc trainees in Germany has come up with this: the B55. It's a V8-powered B-class, complete with AMG-spec 383bhp 5.5-litre V8 mounted up front and driving an old W210 E-class rear axle. Sounds like a promising skunkworks special, derived from an old B200 CDI hack that was kicking about the training centre.