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

Salon Privé 2011: Night Shift

Salon Prive does a Night Shift for the Pommery Picnic It may be a bit of an exagerration to say that Salon Privé – one of our favourite ‘Car’ outings – is going to include a night shift in 2011 – but almost. Salon Prive’s move from the Hurlingham in Chelsea out to the less central – but more hospitable – Duke of Northumberland’s gaff at Syon Park means there’s room to expand the event, so we’re getting treated to the ‘Pommery Picnic’ on the Friday evening – 7pm ’til 11pm. As we never fail to mention when we bang on about Salon Prive, it’s just like a Garden Party in a wealthy friend’s house where he just happens to have littered the grounds with the world’s greatest cars.

Monterey in a Mulsanne – a Bentley mission to Pebble Beach

After a ten-and-a-half-hour flight from London, the idea of steering headlong – and solo – into the early Los Angeles rush-hour traffic in a five-and-a-half-metre-long, left-hand drive Bentley Mulsanne (worth some £230,000 with extras) and on the other side of the road to which I am familiar, might seem a little daunting. But as soon as I sink into the super saloon’s big leather seats, Bluetooth my iPhone to stream some music via the Naim premium audio, turn up the air-conditioning and press the accelerator gently, all becomes well. LAX Airport may be my starting point but the final destination is the Monterey Peninsula towards San Francisco, some 400 miles northward, for the world-famous annual classic car show Pebble Beach.

Currency chills U.S.-made Audi

Audi has put on ice the option of manufacturing in the United States because of the euro's recent slide against the dollar. The decision against U.S. production means Audi, unlike sister division Volkswagen, isn't ready to design a car primarily for the United States.