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

Early cars, fashion on display at the Petersen

Automotivated, a new exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, traces the evolution of clothes worn in cars--from the bulky circus-tent stuff people had to wear to keep from freezing to death in the jangly, open-topped conveyances of 100 years ago, up to the height of the European Concours in the 1920s and '30s, when what you and your date wore was just as important to winning best of show as the styling of your Delahaye/Delage/Talbot Lago. “In the earliest days of the automobile, you were sitting on the car, you weren't sitting in it,” said Leslie Kendall, curator at the Petersen. So the first section of the exhibit shows people (mannequins dressed as people) in heavy, practical overcoats, scarves and goggles.

Dodge introduces 100th Anniversary Editions for LA Auto Show

Dodge is celebrating 100 years of mass-producing automobiles next year. To celebrate, the company is introducing two special 100th Anniversary Editions of the Charger and Challenger at the Los Angeles Auto Show. John and Horace Dodge were already making a decent living supplying parts to Detroit’s burgeoning automotive industry when they decided to introduce their own car, the Dodge Model 30, in 1914.

2012 Hyundai Veloster stickers at $18,060

Hyundai has set the base price of the 2012 Veloster with six-speed manual transmission at $18,060, including destination. The three-door Veloster will also be available with six-speed EcoShift dual-clutch transmission for $19,310. Hyundai says it means for the front-wheel-drive car to appeal to the same group of buyers as the Mini Cooper, the Volkswagen Beetle and the Scion tC.