Namura Piston Kit 68.65mm on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar XJ Diesel – The Swansong plaudit

The Jaguar XJ 2.7 Diesel has won the 'Greenest Luxury Car' Award And although one of the strengths of Jaguar has been its heritage it has, to a degree, also become its Achilles Heel. The first Jaguar XJs were a triumph when they were launched in 1968, and put Jaguar leaps and bounds ahead of the German competition, in the same way Jaguar had taken the world by storm with the E-Type a few years before. But things started to fall apart for Jaguar in the ’70s with the fiasco that was British Leyland, and by trying to emulate Porsche by making each iteration of the XJ an evolution of the original all they managed to do was cement in the public mindset the failings of the XJ.

Changes at Nissan Design

Nissan yesterday announced a series of changes within its higher-level design structure - with VPs responsible for design in Europe and America effectively swapping roles. Alfonso Albaisa, who became VP of Design at Nissan Design Europe's London-based studio in 2007, will be going back to Nissan Design America's San Diego studio as VP of Design. It marks a return to the West Coast for Albaisa, who originally joined Nissan in 1988.

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL previewed by leaked brochure

Here's the image that has the Web abuzz today--an apparent brochure scan of the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL distributed by a European automotive site. Design cues reminiscent of the SLS AMG are unmistakable, and the new SL also takes on a fairly prominent iteration of the corporate front fascia. Underneath, Mercedes is promising a new aluminum architecture that will save weight while boosting rigidity.