Harken Carbo Double Airblock - 2602 on 2040-parts.com

Formula One: PR strikes at Austin City Hall

Free Formula One gear is good, right? That’s what those in charge of F1 public relations seem to think ahead of the Austin City Council’s vote on the Austin Grand Prix racetrack project on Thursday. Formula One baseball caps, water bottles and bumper stickers were handed out at the Austin City Hall as part of a public-relations campaign, according to KUT News.

Concept Car of the Week: Fiat Scia (1993)

After a successful design competition between famous Italian design houses to rework the little Cinquecento, Fiat renewed the experience two years later by giving to nine of them – including Fiat's in-house studio – a new Fiat Punto as a base to let their creative juices flow. The results ranged from being simply forgettable (Zagato Monomille), ridiculously daft (Boneschi Doblone) or just plain ugly (Giannini Punto 4x4 TL), but one of the concepts stood out from the flock for being brilliantly bold. This was the Fiat Scia, presented to the public at the 1993 Turin Auto Show.

MINI Cooper S Diesel coming?

What appears to be a MINI Cooper S Diesel out testing The photo at the top appears to be a MINI Cooper S diesel. Which is not a car we had on our radar, but with MINI any sub niche of a sub niche is fair game, so it seems highly likely that a beefed up S version of the diesel MINI Cooper is in the offing. As we reported just the other day, we’ve already had at least a dozen new MINIs launched or revealed in 2009 alone.