1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Head Doze-a on 2040-parts.com

Auto sales top 14.4 million in 2012

U.S. light-vehicle sales--led by Volkswagen, BMW and Honda--jumped 9 percent in December, pushing the seasonally adjusted sales rate above 15.3 million for the second consecutive month and helping the industry finish 2012 on a high note. Automakers sold 14.49 million light vehicles in the U.S.

Up in smoke: Smokey Yunick's garage burns

Legendary NASCAR mechanic Smokey Yunick closed the "Best Damn Garage In Town" long before he died in 2001. But the main concrete-block, tin-roofed building on Beach Street in Daytona Beach, Fla., remained a stop on the NASCAR history trail for visiting faithful until Monday night, when fire destroyed the building. The building housed Yunick's office and a medium-size garage and more recently served as office space for Carbon Press, the publishing company that Yunick's daughter, Trish, operates and which produces products that include Yunick's salty 1,100-page autobiography and biographies of other racing personalities.

Toyota Prius points the way to design future

For a glimpse of Toyota's future design trends, check out the Prius. The third generation, debuting Monday in Japan, stays true to the line's role as a vanguard of futuristic styling and sports many new elements that will be popping up soon in other models. Chief among these are the sharply creased corners, the forward placement of the Toyota badge, a lowered grille and styling that Toyota's global design chief Wahei Hirai calls "free-form geometrics." The goal was to create an avant-garde, high-tech look that also screams green.