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

NASCAR's sexy French past

In the post-Jean Girard era, your stereotypical NASCAR fan probably doesn't spend too much time thinking about France. Unless it's Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., or Jim France, or Brian France, or Amy France. Ok, so NASCAR fans might actually think about Frances fairly often, but probably not the French Republic.

Aston Martin in talks with Mercedes to build SUV

The Lagonda SUV is looking more likely as AML talk to Mercedes The Aston Martin tie-up with Daimler’s AMG to produce new engines for Aston Martin was always likely to be just the tip of the iceberg of co-operation between the 3-pointed star and Gaydon. That’s because it’s not just new engines that Aston Martin needs, but new platforms too to replace its one and only ageing platform. And the first candidate for platform donation from Mercedes was always likely to be an SUV platform to build a Lagonda SUV on.

One Lap of the Web: Mercedes-Benz SLC rendered, Google Glass for the Tesla S and a rusty Datsun 280ZX

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Last month we brought you some intriguing spy photos of a Porsche 911-fighting Mercedes-Benz coupe -- possibly to be called the SLC, or even the next SLS AMG (it's all a bit unclear at this point) -- but layers of camouflage made it a bit tough to see what the car will look like.