Wrenches Hans 11631m/17 on 2040-parts.com

Latest Alfa Romeo delay spooks Fiat dealers

Another delay in Alfa Romeo's scheduled return to the United States has surprised and disappointed Fiat dealers counting on the sporty Italian cars to bolster their new franchise. Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester said last week that three of the brand's U.S.-bound models will be delayed and a fourth will be canceled. Fiat's 130 U.S.

Everything is bigger in Texas, even speed limits

Texas is preparing to open a stretch of toll road this November with the highest speed limit in America: 85 mph. The road between Austin and San Antonio will stretch for 41 miles, in an attempt to alleviate traffic congestion on nearby Interstate 35. There are already roads in Texas and Utah where the posted speed limit is 80 mph.

Ford's automotive assembly line celebrates 100th anniversary

A mere century ago, on Oct. 7, 1913, Henry Ford rigged up a rope tow to get Model T chassis across the floor of his Highland Park assembly plant -- essentially winching cars across the factory floor and adding a set schedule of parts at certain intervals. The implementation may have been a bit primitive, but Ford was on the cusp something big: applying the concepts of the moving assembly line to the complicated, costly process of automobile production.