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

Mullin Museum 'opens,' still no public date

The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif., "opened" Thursday night with a gala Art Deco affair that did splendid justice to the beautiful cars, photos and furniture inside. Models dressed in period costume with period 'dos draped themselves over what are arguably the world's most beautiful Bugattis, Delages, Delahayes, Talbot-Lagos, Voisins and Hispano-Suizas. Similarly clad guests strolled about the perfect period decor, perfect right down to the Art Deco pillars holding up the ecologically friendly roof.

Citroen Numero 9 Concept & 3 new Citroen DS models on the way

Citroen Numero 9 Concept Citroen has revealed the Numero 9 Concept ahead of the Beijing Motor Show – which we thought was the DS9 – and revealed 3 new DS models planned. The Citroen DS range is due to launch in China during 2012, and the impressive Citroen Numero 9 Concept – which we’d assumed was going to be the Citroen DS9 (and may still be) – has been conceived to mark the launch of DS at Beijing later this month. A big Citroen flagship has been on the cards for some time and the Numero 9 is an evolution of the Citroen Metropolis Concept, which we thought could become the DS6, and is probably destined to go in to production at some point as the DS9.

Driven: Kia Picanto

The first-generation Kia Picanto was one of the cars that helped promote Kia from the lower half of the second-division to somewhere near the playoff places. Its combination of great value, five-door practicality and vaguely cutesy - if thoroughly unremarkable - design found it many a home on the driveway of those looking for an A-segment hatchback. The second-generation model is playing a rather tougher ballgame.