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

KTM Crossbow unveiled

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 07 February 2007 10:52 The KTM Crossbow: it looks like a go-kart on steroids! That’s not far off, actually. Austrian company KTM usually manufactures off-road motorbikes, but it has recently made the jump into street bikes, and now the lightweight sports car market.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Concept Car of the Week: BMW Spicup (1969)

The oddly named Spicup, standing for Spider and Coupé, was first presented at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show. Carozzeria Bertone had previous collaborations with BMW such as the 3200CS coupe by Giugiaro. The friendship between Nuccio Bertone and Willhelm Hoffmeister, head of bodywork construction at BMW, must have also contributed to the brand agreeing to provide an early pre-production of the E3 generation 2500 saloon as a base for the concept.