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

One Lap of the Web: The Talented Mr. Honda, electric airplanes and Viper-powered Jensens

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- A blog post at Hemmings called our attention to this fascinating profile of Soichiro Honda, which was originally printed in the June 16, 1963 edition of the British newspaper The Observer.

VW Sharan MPV (2010) at Geneva motor show

This is the new Volkswagen Sharan, and it’s about time too - the original was launched in 1995. In the time it’s taken VW to replace the Sharan, Ford has ditched its Sharan-based Galaxy, launched a new version using S-Max and Mondeo parts, and facelifted it. We’ve all laughed at the geriatric Saab 9-5, but for the mighty Volkswagen Group this seems like a serious oversight.

New Mercedes C-Class Estate revealed – arrives in the UK September 2014

The new Mercedes C-Class Estate (pictured) revealed The new Mercedes C-Class arrived at the Detroit Auto SHow in January and looks to be properly appealing – a mini S-Class and strong competition for the BMW 3-Series. Now we get the 2015 Mercedes C-Class Estate, which takes the new C-Class in to the load-lugging sector with a capacious take on the fine attributes of the C-Class saloon. A C-Class saloon from the B-pillars forward, the new C-Class Estate grows to 4702mm and gets a 2840mm wheelbase, enough for an extra 45mm of legroom in the back and with 490 litre of room for stuff in the boot with the seats up and 1510 litres with them folded away, and there are more options in between with new seats that split 40/20/40 and can be moved electrically.