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

A New Concours d'Elegance in Detroit

New name, new place, same cars--only more of them. The event formerly known as the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance has moved across metropolitan Detroit and is now called the Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's , reflecting the show's national significance and the spectrum of collectors who flock to the annual summer summit of vintage sheetmetal.

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.

Chevrolet Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov honored in Russia

Belgian-born Zora Arkus-Duntov was the first chief engineer for the Chevrolet Corvette. But he is a new discovery to Russians, even though he lived in St. Petersburg through his teenage years.