Thor Quadrant Riding Boots (size 7) on 2040-parts.com

U.S. is seeking a record $16.4 million fine against Toyota

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking a historic $16.4 million civil penalty against Toyota for failing to notify the agency in a timely fashion of a throttle problem that could cause unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Monday. The amount is the maximum penalty and would be the most NHTSA has levied against an automaker. The agency said Toyota waited at least four months to alert it of the potential pedal problem.

Mercedes AMG engine guru to join VW

The man credited with development of Mercedes-Benz AMG's latest line of high performance gasoline engines, Friedrich Eichler, has been lured to the Volkswagen Group, where he will take up an as yet unspecified position this summer, sources with knowledge of the move tell Autoweek. Eichler, who joined AMG after working his way up through the ranks at Porsche, was instrumental in the development of AMG's naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8, twin-turbocharged and naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 and twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 that powers the Pagani Huayra. Friedrich Eichler also developed turbocharged four-cylinder engines for upcoming Mercedes AMG cars.

New BMW M1 isn’t happening

BMW won’t be building a new M1 A new BMW M1 Supercar has been mooted for some time – BMW even produced the M1 Homage in 2008 – but it’s not going to happen. We’ve expected BMW to bite the bullet at some point and recreate its mid-engined M1 Supercar. After all, car makers like a halo and, although BMW has some very impressive cars, they don’t really have anything like the Mercedes SLS.