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

The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

Dodge Dart SRT photo leaked on Neon forum

On Tuesday, Dodge revealed the specs and equipment of the 2013 Dart GT ahead of its official unveiling at the Detroit auto show. For the moment it's the top Dart trim to be officially confirmed, although the automaker said it was looking into an R/T version. What we didn't know then is that a leaked picture of what looks to be the Dart SRT had been floating around a Neon internet forum for a few days.

AA celebrates 40 years of 'get you home'

THIS MONTH the Automobile Association is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Recovery service - originally called AA Relay - that promised to get you home or to your destination. Back in 1973 there were very limited options if your broken-down car could not be fixed at the side of the road. The AA patrol could only tow you to your local garage to have it fixed or you would have to carry on your journey without the car.