2006 Buick Lucerne Floor Center Console Tan 789991 on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: We invented the Miata!

-- Sochi or bust! Is there anything more Russian than driving a Lada Niva to the Winter Olympics? (Flagrant corruption, perhaps.) Documentary producer Vlad Ketkovich calls the venerable Niva "the closest thing to an automotive version of the Russian soul," and we'd wager that the Niva belongs in quintessential Russian-ness next to the Bolshoi Ballet and the movie "Russian Ark." (Or "Ninth Company," if your attention span has been blown to bits.) -- A gorgeous Alfa Romeo ventures into the woods by itself.

Official: Aston Martin Cygnet axed – fewer than 150 sold

Sir Stirling Moss was one of fewer than 150 Aston Martin Cygnet buyers Last month we reported that Aston Martin appeared to have axed their take on a supermini – the Aston Martin Cygnet – after just a couple of years. Now that news seems to be official after Reuters spoke to an Aston Martin source who also said the Cygnet sold so poorly that fewer than 150 were sold. That must make the Cygnet one of the poorest performing cars in any company’s sales history, especially as that fewer than 150 total was supposed to be 4,000 a year.

2011 Volkswagen Passat: Paris Motor Show 2010

The 2011 Volkswagen Passat at Paris Volkswagen like to call this 2011 VW Passat the seventh generation Passat. But it’s a sort of six and three-quarters Passat because, although every bit of sheet metal has been changed, the underpinnings stay the same. Up front the Passat gets a new set of lights and a new grill and the back sees a new set of lights.