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Akio Toyoda waves family flag, heir makes crisis personal challenge

The reclusive Akio Toyoda is taking the rare step of waving the family flag, as the scion to Toyota Motor Corp.’s founding dynasty tries to steer the world’s largest car company out of a spiraling safety crisis. In testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Toyoda pursues a rare personal tack on the emergency, saying “my name is on every car.” “As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name,” Toyoda says in prepared comments circulated ahead of Wednesday’s committee hearing in Washington. “For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well.” The intimate reflection is a departure for Toyoda, who has spent most of his career sidestepping public discussion of his lineage.

Tony DeLorenzo to be inducted into Bloomington Gold's Great Hall

Corvette racer Tony DeLorenzo and his 1967 L88 Corvette are being inducted into the Bloomington Gold Great Hall in St. Charles, Ill., on June 24. It's part of Bloomington Gold's honoring the 50 people and 50 cars that played the biggest roles in Chevrolet Corvette racing lore.

The quest for eights in a Nissan GT-R

Eight seconds can seem either like an instant or an eternity. For SP Engineering, however, eight seconds is the threshold it aims to cross in its highly modified Nissan GT-R shop car for the standing quarter-mile. “This car will run eights,” said Will Wong, wholesale manager at SP Engineering.