Vintage Washburn No. 555 Battery Tester on 2040-parts.com

Ford to add 1,200 jobs at Chicago plant to build 2011 Explorer

Ford plans to add 1,200 jobs when it begins making the Explorer sport-utility vehicle later this year in Chicago. The announcement is expected Tuesday morning at the plant. Plans to bring the Explorer from Louisville, Ky., to the underutilized Chicago plant have been known for nearly a year.

Euro Car Parts sold for £225 million

Euro Car Parts Sold for £225 million There was a time, a very long time ago, where Euro Car Parts was an almost hidden secret, supplying manufacturer standard parts for higher end cars at prices that were much more affordable. The key to Euro Car Parts success was supplying parts which seemed to be sourced from the same suppliers as the car maker itself, but sold without the same huge margins. This writer was an avid fan of Euro Car Parts as a struggling young dad with a penchant for cars he couldn’t really afford; Euro Car Parts – and weekends with a toolbox and oily hands – kept a succession of luxury and performance cars on the road on a shoestring, but without compromising quality.

BMW ready to shift small coupes, convertibles to even-number nameplates

Reports in Europe say that BMW is planning a shake-up in the naming strategy for its smaller coupes and convertibles, as well as planning to shift its 1-series cars onto a front-drive platform. The nameplate shake-up will have coupe and convertible variants of the 1-series become the 2-series, while coupe and convertible variants of the 3-series will become the 4-series. The changeover is expected to start in 2013, according to a report on the Web site of Car magazine.