Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

DRB-Hicom reject offer for Lotus

DBR-Hicom – owners of Proton and Lotus – have rejected an offer for Lotus and are intent on nursing it back to health. The rumours surrounding the fate of Lotus - especially after the Dany Bahar saga – have been rumbling around the car world for a long time. Will DRB-Hicom – who bought Proton, owners of Lotus, in 2011 – cut and run, or will they see Lotus as a possible jewel in their crown to be nursed back to health?

Mercedes SL65 AMG (2012) first official pictures

If you're wondering why Mercedes is persisting with a twelve-cylinder SL in this downsizing era, understand this: the new 2012-spec SL65 AMG exists purely because many buyers at this end of the market demand more of everything. So a Mercedes SL65 AMG with a hulking bi-turbo 6.0-litre V12 has been launched for customers in China, the Middle East and other emerging markets, where millionaires are numerous and fuel prices less of an impediment to sizeable sales. Over here, we'll just ogle the price tag well into six figures and stick with the big-selling SL350 or SL500.

Project Car Hell, Straight Eight, Two Doors Edition: '47 Buick or '53 Packard?

Welcome back to another session in the Hell Garage, where you choose between a pair of projects that match coolness with torment. We've been through air-cooled German cars, cheap Italian cars and incomprehensible French cars in recent weeks, and now we're going to winch a couple of big American two-doors with straight-eight power out of the Lake of Fire. Before the V8 reigned supreme in luxury-car land, cars with long hoods and smooth-running inline-eight engines showed that you had made it, and we've found a pair of such cars that should be gorgeous when restored…after about a decade of work.