2005 Ford Escape 3.0l Flex Plate on 2040-parts.com

Volkswagen plans return of Microbus

An expanded lineup of Beetle-themed cars are in Volkswagen's future, including a Microbus model that we have seen in various concept forms over the past decade, according to Auto Express. When Volkswagen renews the Beetle in 2019, it will also debut a crossover, coupe and a mini-MPV, all based on the MQB architecture that underpins the new Golf. Even though plans of an MPV rebirth date back to the introduction of a number of concepts in the early 2000s, Volkswagen hadn't pulled the trigger on putting an homage to the Bus (known as the Kombi in most of the world, or Camper in the U.K.) intro production for a number of reasons.

2014 Morgan Plus 8 Speedster is a retro road racer

Morgan is celebrating 100 years of building cars at its factory at Pickersleigh Road in Malvern with what it promises will be a series of special vehicles, appearing throughout 2014. The first of these is the Plus 8 Speedster– and it is special indeed. For starters, as the Speedster name implies, it comes without a traditional windscreen and roof.

Hood-ornament quiz--the answers

Were you able to separate the Cadillac from the Packard in our hood-ornaments challenge in the April 5 issue of AutoWeek? We wanted to know whether you could identify eight classic cars solely by their hood ornaments. Here's the place to confirm your car-knowledge prowess, or to recalibrate your hood-ornament history.