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

Six-door Mercedes 600 Pullman Landaulet barn-find sold for £450k

Oh goodness, this Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Landaulet is quite possibly this author’s favourite car ever to come up for auction. Pinpointing exactly why we love it so much is hard, probably because there are just so many reasons. But when we saw it featuring in the top 10 sales at this week’s RM Auctions Paris sale, we couldn’t move on with our lives without giving it a gallery all for itself.

Kia Borrego

Kia has released photos of the Borrego, a full-size SUV for the North American market. The production model, which was originally previewed as the Mesa Concept at the 2005 Detroit Auto show, would have taken exactly three years to be transformed from a show car to a full production model when it makes its official debut at the NAIAS in 2008. Overall proportions and design details have been adjusted and toned-down noticeably from the Mesa concept, with details such as more realistically-sized alloy wheels, the body-To-DLO ratio, a no-frills interior and, perhaps most apparent, the more subtle greenhouse graphics.

Bungling thief caught after stealing hire car's steering wheel

A DIM-WITTED criminal has been convicted of theft after stealing parts of a brand new Audi A3 hire car and replacing them with old bits taken from his much older Audi S3. Alexander Keating, a 23-year-old former bodyshop technician who lost his job following the conviction, stole parts as obvious as the steering wheel and gear knob from the A3 that his mum had hired after damaging her car in an accident. Keating foolishly believed no one would notice the battered old steering wheel on the otherwise shiny, new car, but sure enough the mismatched parts were spotted and the hapless bungler was caught by the car hire firm’s bespoke anti-fraud team Asset Protection Unit (APU).