Volkswagen Passat Chassis Brain Box Transmission; (under Rear Seat), 6 Cyl, Th on 2040-parts.com

Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2012) first official pictures

This is the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid, and although it’s been unveiled on the same day as the world’s motoring media descends upon Detroit for the 2012 North American International Auto Show, it's not there. Instead, the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid won’t actually appear until the Geneva show in early March 2012. Presumably the Toyota Yaris Hybrid is even cleaner and greener than the pious Prius?

Lingenfelter Performance muscles up its own Trans Am

Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is reviving a name from the growing list of dead car companies, building a reimagined, 2010 Chevrolet Camaro-based Trans Am for the PlayStation generation. Ken Lingenfelter and his Decatur, Ind., team redesigned almost every panel of the Camaro, leaving only the doors and the roof intact. They parked a 1971 Pontiac Trans Am alongside the donor car for inspiration.

Fiat unveils new 900cc TwinAir two-cylinder engine

Fiats of old used to feature noisy two-cylinders with a fetish for overheating, yet the Italians are at it again, this week releasing details of their new TwinAir two-cylinder 900cc engines. You can see how it works in our video below. The new engines, the first in a series of two-cylinders by the Italians, are designed to trump all other downsizing efforts. Headline figures from the 83bhp twin are 23% more power than the regular 1.2 four-pot and the same as a 1.4 16v - yet with 30% less consumption.