2000 Dodge Avenger Door Latch Driver Left Front 2610039 on 2040-parts.com

The Grand National Roadster Show is like church, with chrome trim

You can argue all day about which is the best and most influential hot-rod show in the world, but we'll take the Grand National Roadster Show, which will be held this weekend at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. This is the 61st running of what grizzled veterans have simply called "Oakland," after the city that hosted it for its first half-century. This is the seventh year the show has been held in the Art Deco halls and sprawling avenues of the Fairplex, all of which will be under sunny skies and balmy temps all weekend.

SoCal Speed shop wins AMBR award as hod-rodding returns to its roots

In a competition that "took hot-rodding back to its SoCal roots," the SoCal Speed Shop--the entity founded by original hot-rod hero Alex Xydias and now helmed by Pete Chapouris--finally won the AMBR. That's AMBR, as in, America's Most Beautiful Roadster, the most sought-after title in all of hot-rodding and the crowning glory of the Grand National Roadster Show. There is that competition at the Detroit Autorama that hands out the Ridler Award, but that is open to all manner of kustom kars.

2011 Audi R8 GT, an AW first look

Three years after it burst onto the supercar scene, Audi has unveiled a hard-core version of its R8 called the GT. Based on the existing mid-engine R8 V10 and incorporating aerodynamic, weight-saving and mechanical developments used by the company's R8 LMS GT3 race car, Ingolstadt will build just 333 copies of the new 560-hp four-wheel-drive performance flagship. Pricing has not yet been revealed, but given the extent of the changes to the new two-seater, buyers should expect a hefty premium over the R8 V10's $147,000 price tag when the GT goes on sale in North America.