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

Toyota sets Nurburgring record... for fuel economy

WHATEVER else you might say about Toyota, it seems the brand has a sense of humour. Driving enthusiasts will hand their (petrol)heads in shame after Toyota completed the 12.9-mile German track at an average of 698mpg. The embarrassingly pedestrian time of 20 minutes and 59 seconds was set by motor journalist and Japanese car expert Joe Clifford, and since Toyota is the first to shame itself with a fuel economy run at the heart of performance car testing, it automatically sets a new efficiency record.

One Lap of the Web: A rally car drinks beer

-- Thierry Neuville was somewhere on his way back to the pits after finishing the final stage of the WRC Mexico when his Hyundai i20 rally car sprung a leak: The hole in the radiator was bleeding coolant at a frightening rate. If Neuville didn't make the 33 kilometers back, he would lose his second place standing behind Volkswagen and all would be lost. (Alas, them's the breaks in the sometimes-quixotic rulebook of the World Rally Championship.) Well, lucky for Neuville, his sponsors at Corona had presented him with a massive bottle of beer, which he then proceeded to pour into the radiator.

American icon, reborn: the 1967 Shelby GT500CR Continuation Car (2010): first official pictures

We all have fantasies about meeting long dead heroes, dreams like seeing the Beatles play onstage, going dirt bike riding with Steve McQueen, or talking politics with JFK. Until they improve cloning technology, we won't be heading out to the desert with Steve, but there is one legend that is reborn and ready to ride. An Oklahoma based custom coachbuilder called Classic Recreations announced at the auto-industry love-fest called SEMA last November that they had struck a deal with Shelby American to put one of the most famous Ford muscle cars ever built back into production - the 1967 Shelby GT500.