1988 Kawasaki Ex 500 A-2 Carbs Carburetor on 2040-parts.com

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.

One Lap of the Web: Metal Machine Mazdas

-- Someday, for some reason, you might find yourself in Jaworzno, Poland. And if you're there, you might drive down Grunwaldzka and make a right on Krolowej Jadwigi (we've never been to Jaworzno, actually) and end up at the Jeff Hanneman Circle Pit, a roundabout named after the late guitarist from Slayer and, therefore, the most badass road junction in the universe. The traffic circle could -- and should -- also double as a demolition derby for FSO Polonezes.

New venom for Viper

It appeared onstage for a few fleeting moments, more phantom than future sheetmetal. But like a ghost that won't go away or a car company that refuses to die, a reborn Viper has been penciled in for Dodge for 2012. A concept version of the next American supercar was shown in September in Orlando, Fla., by Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to a convention center filled with thousands of people—most of them notoriously talkative car dealers.