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

Making famous friends at the Petersen museum

Celebrities, they're just like us! And aside from the public adulation and fame, plus our sneaking suspicion that the 12 or so really well-known car guys can actually afford their lavish hand-picked choices without so much as entering a PIN or presenting a letter of credit, celebrities bicker and fret over the cars with which they'd fill their dream garages. Difference is, when they fill their dream garages, people pay attention.

Kia Ray Concept at Chicago Motor Show

Kia wil preview the Kia Ray Concept plug-in hybrid at the Chicago Motor Show next month Yes, the Detroit Motor Show is only just about done, but waiting in the wings is the rather less fancy Chicago Motor Show (although they probably won’t thank us for describing it as such). But despite Chicago being a lower key affair than Detroit they will still get their share of new stuff. Well, not necessarily new (we reported that North America gets the BMW Alpina B7 which will debut at Chicago) but certainly new to the US.

SoCal stuff you just have to see

If you live in Southern California or might visit anytime soon, here are a few things to do: Legends Of Riverside III Riverside International Raceway may have been closed for 22 years, but it has never left the memories of those who drove on it and the fans who sat in the brown dirt and scrub brush around the outside. For the last three years, the Riverside International Automotive Museum has honored those memories with a big reunion of great drivers, race cars and movies. In 2009, the featured hero was Southern California's own Dan Gurney.