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

Rear-drive revelers: Spring Fest draws LX devotees to California love-in

Long before Eminem boosted the image of Detroit and the Chrysler 200, Fatchance was getting the West Coast party started for Chrysler's rear-drive LX cars. Fatchance is the Internet handle of John Fortuno, a man who--like many others we met at the Sixth Annual Spring Fest for LX owners--claims his car, a 2005 Chrysler 300C, changed his life. It introduced him to www.LXforums.com, a worldwide virtual car club that has more than 38,000 members dedicated to the Chrysler LX rear-drive platform used by the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger, Challenger and Magnum.

MINI miffed at Spy Photos of 2014 MINI Hatch

MINI has released their own ‘Spy’ shot of the 2014 MINI hatch (pictured above) The rise and rise of the internet in recent years has seen the once niche market for spy photos of unreleased cars go mainstream, and whether car makers like it or not they can be sure the moment they take their new pride and joy on the road it will be papped and online. Most unrevealed cars go out testing covered in swirly camouflage and padded add-ons to disguise shape and form, but this week a 2014 MINI hatch was snapped with no disguise at all, and it didn’t look great. It didn’t look great because the photo was taken from such a distance it distorted perspective and made the new MINI look a very odd shape.

U.S. auto sales climb 14 percent in January

UPDATED: U.S. auto sales, led Toyota Motor Corp. and the Detroit 3, rose 14 percent in January, giving the industry a bigger lift to begin 2013 than analysts expected.