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

End of Maybach may jump-start Mercedes S-class convertible

A couple of nondenial denials from Mercedes-Benz execs at the New York auto show this week sure made it sound like there's a convertible coming, based on the redesigned S-class due out next year. If the brand follows its usual practice, the convertible would come out a year or two after the sedan. Significantly, Mercedes-Benz showed the Ocean Drive convertible concept five years ago with a Mercedes-Benz badge, rather than Maybach.

Aston Martin DB5 returns in James Bond Skyfall

The Aston Martin DB5 returns in Skyfall (image ©Eon) The iconic Aston Martin DB5 – the ultimate ‘Bond’ car – returns to the screen in the new James Bond film, Skyfall, with Daniel Craig. It’s not just an age thing – middle-aged men remembering Sean Connery as James Bond – that associates James Bond with Aston Martin. And especially the Silver Aston Martin DB5 seen in Goldfinger ( and Thunderball, Casino Royale, Tomorrow Never Dies and GoldenEye).

One Lap of the Web: Let's visit Amelia Island in a short bus camper

-- Ken Kesey and friends spent most of the countercultural 1960s driving across the country in a 1939 International Harvester school bus painted in psychedelic colors. Portland, Maine architect Will Winkelman might do less drugs (we don't know), but the 1959 Chevrolet Viking short bus he designed might fit Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, especially if you stacked them head-to-toe. For his client, Winkelman designed a Moroccan theme of colorful patterns and textures across the curtains and twin beds, beaded light fixtures and wood paneling everywhere, approaching the project as one might approach boat-building or a particularly run-down Detroit "fixer-upper." The result has plumbing, power, an olive-drab paint scheme that blends into the New England woods, and the overall sense of a guest bedroom that you can escape in whenever you tire of your host's company.