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

Toyota FT-86 II: Now Toyota mean it. Really

Toyota FT-86 II at Geneva Toyota has been threatening to produce an affordable sports car for quite a while. And when we first saw the Toyota FT-86 Concept at the end of 2009 (and in the flesh at Goodwood last summer) we’d expected to see it launch this year. Despite that expectation, we discovered in January that Toyota were actually taking a different concept to Geneva – the Toyota FT-86 II – dashing any hopes of the FT-86 in any shape or form hitting the road this year.

One Lap of the Web: Panteras, Battlebirds and Patrick Dempsey's entrepreneurial brilliance

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Sure, later versions of the De Tomaso Pantera looked a bit outrageous with their wide fenders and Countach-like spoilers.

Mickey Thompson: A life remembered

Come celebrate the life and fast times of motorsports legend Mickey Thompson with the people who knew him best: his son, Danny Thompson; his first wife and Danny's mother, Judy Thompson Creach; fellow hot-rod hero Alex Xydias; drag racer Tom Jobe, and turbocharger mad scientist Gale Banks. The event will come in the form of a panel discussion at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, Calif., on May 15 at 2 p.m. The incomparable silver-tongued Dave McClellan will serve as moderator.