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

Beijing Auto Show 2014 – Trends and Overview

With the New York auto show just one week earlier, many carmakers took the decision to use the Beijing show as their preferred choice of launch event. While the NYC expo holds decent sway on the US East coast, it could never hope to compete with the lure of the world's biggest – and fastest expanding – car market. With over 1,300 cars on display from scores of brands – both domestic and foreign – it's a fascinating bazaar of automotive hardware across the entire bandwidth of the industry.

New Mazda6 teased in video

The new Mazda 6 – previewed by the Takeri Concept and due to arrive at the Paris Motor Show in September - gets its first tease from Mazda. It’s probably fair to say that we have a pretty good idea what the 2013 Mazda6 is going to look like. Mazda has been trailing the new Mazda6 with the Mazda Takeri Concept – which had a recent outing at the Geneva Motor Show in March – but now we get the first tease of what is definitely the Mazda6 and not the Takeri in a video from Mazda.

The Jaguar F-Type's a closet Star Wars geek

Our friends over at Jalopnik are currently at Jaguar F-Type media event over in Seattle, where they had a chance to catch up with its design Wayne Burgess (check out our full interview with him here), who revealed some interesting sources of inspiration for some of its detailing. The first is a real easter egg - a detail that once you've discovered it you can't help but see - the front lamp cans are based on Star Wars' TIE Fighter. What has been seen can not be unseen.