1992-97 Thunderbird, Couger,tbird Egr Valve Assembly Nos Ford on 2040-parts.com

Spy photos: BMW i8 hits Swedish test track

Spy photographers caught the new BMW i8 testing on a secret track wearing the company’s familiar psychedelic camouflage. The test car pictured is a preproduction model rather than a concept BMW i8, similar to what should appear in 2013. As reported earlier, we’re expecting BMW’s 2014 i8 hybrid coupe to get a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine--essentially the same unit earmarked to head into the next-generation Mini and the front-wheel-drive BMW 1-series due out in 2014.

Kia CUB concept

Kia gave its new CUB concept its official debut at this week's Seoul Auto Show. The B-segment five-door hatchback was designed at Kia's Namyang Design Center in Hwaseong, South Korea, under the direction of the carmaker's president and chief design officer Peter Schreyer and is less than 4 meters long. Developed as the latest study into Kia's B- and C-segment future models following last year's Trackster concept and the Provo concept unveiled earlier this month at the Geneva show, there are a number of design features taken from the 2007 Kia Kee 2+2 concept.

The Toyota FT-1 sure does look like the Bertone Mantide

We really liked the Toyota FT-1, which caught us off guard in the best possible way when it emerged at the Detroit auto show. In fact, we liked Toyota's “spiritual pace car” enough to call it the most fun new thing on the floor -- and we're hoping the automaker's execs take notice. Reader Dennis Liu certainly noticed the car, which seemed rather familiar to him: He feels that, coincidentally or not, it looks a lot like the Bertone Mantide.