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

VW Passat (2011) first pictures: it's Passat Mk7

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 29 September 2010 20:00 Volkswagen tonight kicked off its now-traditional eve-of-show party at the French expo with an unveiling of its new wares. The new seventh-generation VW Passat is the star on Volkswagen’s Paris motor show stand – and these are the first photographs of the new Passat v7.0.It’s a modest refresh, akin to the jump from Golf Mk5 to Golf Mk6. There’s the latest Volkswagen design lingo masterminded by Klaus Bischoff, a smattering of new tech and the inevitable eco solutions.This is the seventh-generation VW Passat.

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.

Mumford's Brizio-built '27 Track Roadster wins AMBR

As is often the case with the great roadsters, the Kelly Brown Track T has been a known commodity in rodding circles for somewhere around 30 years. All it needed was to finally get built and finished. For a while it was in the shop of Stevie Davis, the famous tin man who could shape anything into aluminum art.