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

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.

Lexus LF-NX concept (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the Lexus LF-NX concept SUV. It’s a BMW X3-sized crossover that’ll sport hybrid power and entice would-be Lexus buyers who don’t need a car as big as the RX hybrid SUV. That is, if the crazy styling doesn’t put them off, because this is certainly one of the more polarising concept designs we’ve seen in recent times.

Audi A7 Sportback Launched: Price & Models

The Audi A7 Sportback Launches Finally, after much teasing and a little tormenting, Audi did the decent thing and put us out of our misery with the launch of yet another niche filler – the Audi A7 Sportback – at the Museum of Modern Art in Munich last night. Displayed in all its brown-ness, the Audi A7 looks like an oversized A5 Sportback with the nose of the new A8. In the flesh at launch it somehow seems less impressive than the concept A7; more corporate.