Mercruiser 170 Engine Long Block on 2040-parts.com

Designer Tom Matano part of start-up car company in Louisiana

A new auto company backed by Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano plans to build "environmentally friendly" vehicles in Louisiana. V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, will bring about 1,400 workers to a Monroe plant that once belonged to General Motors, according to a statement Wednesday from the Louisiana Economic Development Web site.

Mazda Mazda6 [w/Gallery]

Mazda gave its Mazda6 its world debut today at the 2012 Moscow auto show. The Mazda6, which is the production version of the Mazda Takeri concept first seen at the Tokyo motor show last year, follows the automaker's new ‘KODO - Soul of Motion' design language. The Mazda6, which measures in at 4,800mm long, 1,840mm wide, 1,450mm high with a wheelbase of 2,830mm, features the ‘signature wing' - an element of the new design language - set into the front, while the creases extending from the tips flow into body character lines.

Smaller Mercedes SLS confirmed, and with front-mounted V8 too

Baby Mercedes SLS AMG - or at least how it could have looked if mid-engined We’ve believed for some time that Mercedes were planning a smaller version of the SLS, but so far there’s been no official word. But that’s now changed, with AMG’s Christoph Jung telling AutoExpress that Mercedes and AMG are currently working on a smaller SLS, to go head-to-head with cars like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8. Interestingly, we’d thought that Mercedes would go the route of a mid-engined two-seater for the baby SLS, and that it would probably get a turbo V6. But it would appear not.