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

One Lap of the Web: 1970, rollin' in sight

-- Come with me to a time when people raced Datsun 120Ys and when Rinspeed ruled the world. A simpler time, when going fast was the only entry in the racing rulebook. A ridiculous time, when the world was presented with a Simca Maxi Turbo and didn't think much about it.

W.W.J.D. (What Would Jay-Z Drive?)

Since Maybach got the axe last month, there has been a hole 6.2 meters long in the hearts of rappers and ball players everywhere. Florida rapper Rick Ross, whose label name is Maybach Music, may even have to find another marque to follow. Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, who recorded several songs singing the praises of Maybach, will have to find a new ride in which to be chauffeured.

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.