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

Art Center Car Classic features the world's great automobiles

It seems like we say this every year, but this year it's truly fitting: this was the best Art Center Car Classic ever. Consider that the show covered both ends of the Corvette spectrum, from Peter Brock and the rise of the original “Mitchell Corvette” -- which was right there parked on the grass -- to General Motors designer Pete Thomas and the new C7 parked not far away, with the Mako Shark and the '63 split-window Sting Ray lined up between. A couple car lengths from that was the debut of the finally finished Peter Mullin Bugatti Type 64, a spectacular re-imagining of Jean Bugatti's unfinished final car done by Art Center students and Transportation Design chair Stewart Reed.

BMW to offer rear-wheel drive X3 SUV

Most BMW X3s spend a negligible amount of time off road - apart from crunching across Middle England's gravel driveways - so BMW has seen fit to release a version that ditches the all-paw capacity and reverts to classic rear-wheel drive. While it's still going to be some way from a classic rear-drive Ultimate Driving Machine, the X3 sDrive18d is the cheapest and most economical way into X3 ownership. You'll be able to get your hands on one from £28,580 when it arrives in the UK in the autumn of 2012.

Company cars linked to speeding

COMPANY CAR drivers are far more likely to exceed the 70mph motorway speed limit than private motorists, according to an RAC survey. As many as 88% of those behind the wheel in firms' vehicles regularly exceed the limit compared with 67% of private motorists. Also, 62% of company of company car drivers said they reached speeds of 80mph on motorways, almost double that of regular motorists (32%).