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

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.

MINI Soho: MINI’s next ‘London’ Limited Edition

MINI Soho, photographed in…Soho In case you’d forgotten, MINI decided earlier this year that all their Limited Edition would be named after London Boroughs, districts and landmarks. Hence the new Limited Edition MINI arrival gets the MINI Soho moniker. And actually – although MINI has in fact used the Soho moniker before (on the MINI Soho Clubman last year) - it’s a perfectly good name for the MINI, a car that still evokes the swinging sixties and all things London.

NASCAR: Sprint Cup stars in Pennsylvania, Nationwide Series runs in Iowa

NASCAR's three-race, two-venue weekend has a somewhat different face now that Carl Edwards has re-signed with Roush Fenway Racing and Brad Keselowski has been told to skip the weekend's Nationwide Series race in Iowa. And what's with those big-time Sprint Cup stars running the Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway? Edwards is at Pocono all day Friday and part of Saturday to prepare for Sunday afternoon's Good Sam Emergency 500.