1948-1954 Hudson Six Cylinder Oil Pan on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: Mazda Taiki (2007)

Mazda had been doing fantastically well with its concepts since the end of 2006, and its offering for the 2007 Tokyo motor show didn't buck the trend. The fourth in the 'Nagare' series that explored the idea of 'Flow, it lined up on the Mazda stand with its older brothers for the first time, and was understandably a most impressive display and one of the highlights of this show. Here's what Nick Hull had to say about the Taiki at the time.

Kia Provo upsets Northern Ireland

The Kia Provo Concept for a funky urban car has run in to trouble in Northern Ireland as its name evokes the Troubles. Looking like a Kia take on the Juke – although we think Kia see it more as a take on the MINi Countryman / MINI Paceman – it looks like a perfect direction for Kia to take with a ready market for butch little cars for blatting round town growing all the time. But you can’t please all the people all the time, and Kia has run in to trouble with the Provo already, as Unionist MPs in Northern Ireland have taken exception to the name.

Dinner with Bob Lutz: Looking back at nearly 50 years in the car business

Bob Lutz is retiring--again. He has tried this twice before: at Chrysler in 1998 and with his abortive exit from General Motors last year. But this time, at age 78, it may stick, even for the car guy who has operated at the industry's highest levels since the early 1970s.