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

The no-show cars: a reader rant on mad concepts

Instigated by Harley Earl at General Motors in the late 30s with the quaintly named Buick Y-Job, show cars, or concept cars, were presented to an excited public eager for new things. As the world recovered from a depression and then a war, these vehicles pointed to a better future that many people believed in, including the people who produced them. And, although many of the concept cars of the 50s, with their Jetsons plexiglass roofs and notional nuclear powered engines seem ludicrous now, in their time they weren’t that cynical.

JAG CELEBRATES SUCCESS AND A BIRTHDAY

BARONS' RECENT annual 'Jaguar Heritage Sale' celebrated all models of the much-loved marque but the E-type, in its 50th anniversary year really stole the show. The car had bidders and vendors purring with pleasure and nine of these stunning cars were on offer and all of them sold. Of the four examples offered, not one sold for less than £31,000 and the chart topper – a magnificent, bright red 1972 machine achieved over £39,000.

The new Honda Insight hybrid is shown at the Detroit auto show

The new Honda Insight was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show To hear Honda tell it, the new 2010 Insight coming to market this April is all about making hybrid technology available to Gen-Y. That's because it's smaller and less expensive than the class-leading Toyota Prius or Honda's own Civic Hybrid. We drove the Insight in Arizona recently and found it also more fun to drive than most hybrids, another attribute that ranks high among young buyers.