Yamaha Exciter 220 65b-51333-10-5b Screen Intake Jet Grate on 2040-parts.com

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Mercedes CL63 AMG & CL65 AMG 2011 leak out

The 2010 / 2011 Mercedes CL65 AMG We had the first picture of the 2011 Mercedes CL AMG a few weeks back, which prompted Mercedes to get their act together on the 2010 / 2011 CL Facelift details and ship those out to us ahead of the offficial debut at Goodwood last weekend. But what Mercedes didn’t send us were photos of the CL63 AMG or the CL65 AMG. And they said that both AMG models would be available by special order.

Parade celebrates astronauts and Corvettes

After Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into outer space in 1961, General Motors executive Ed Cole presented the astronaut with a new 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, customized with a space-age interior. Shepard had brought along his own 1957 Corvette when he reported for the space-training program in 1959. Thanks to a special lease arrangement between the space men and a Melbourne, Fla., Chevy dealership, six of the Mercury Seven astronauts were Corvette owners.