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

How celebrities stay safe in their cars with 007-style gadgets

You’re rich, famous and important enough to think you need a little more protection from your car than the standard anti-intruder alarm. What do you do? Buy a heavily armoured mobile fortress from US car modifiers ‘Texas Armoring Corporation’, of course.

Brits take the world steam land speed record – twice +video

The British Steam Car Challenge team has set a new land speed record for a steam car at 148.308mph All of which tends to suggest – admirable though the achievement is – that steam technology has not moved on much in 100 years. An improvement of around 1mph a decade. Still, a challenge is a challenge, and the team on the British Steam Car Challenge rose to the occasion.

Volkswagen Beetle R: Frankfurt debut planned?

2012 VW Beetle R - a Hot Beetle However hard they tried – and they did for a while – Volkswagen never managed to make the reborn VW Beetle anything more than a novelty; a girly car with a flower vase for girly drivers. That was enough to make the Beetle sell in almost respectable numbers in both North and South America, but it consigned VW’s retro effort to the novelty bin in Europe, where we tend to know a cynical marketing ploy from a real car. But Volkswagen seem intent on making the 212 VW Beetle rather more credible.